Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Endocrine Disruption: Role of Testicular Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication and Connexins.

Ambient air pollution and smoking are well-documented risk factors for male infertility. Prevalent air pollutants and cigarette smoke components, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are environmental and occupational toxicants that act as chemicals disrupting endocrine regulation and reproductive potential in males. Testicular gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) is critical for normal development and function of testicular tissue, thus we assessed GJIC as a process potentially targeted by PAHs in testes. Lower MW PAHs with a bay or bay-like region rapidly dysregulated GJIC in Leydig TM3 cells by relocalization of major testicular gap junctional protein connexin 43 (Cx43) from plasma membrane to cytoplasm. This was associated with colocalization between Cx43 and ubiquitin in intracellular compartments, but without any effect on Cx43 degradation rate or steady-state Cx43 mRNA levels. A longer exposure to active PAHs decreased steady-state levels of full-length Cx43 protein and its 2 N-truncated isoforms. Inhibition of GJIC by PAHs, similarly to a prototypic GJIC-inhibitor TPA, was mediated via the MAP kinase-Erk1/2 and PKC pathways. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced GJIC dysregulation in testes was cell-type-specific because neither PAH dysregulated GJIC in Sertoli TM4 cells, despite PAHs were rapidly taken up by both Leydig TM3 as well as Sertoli TM4 cells. Because TPA effectively dysregulated GJIC in both testicular cell types, a unique regulator of GJIC targeted by PAHs might exist in Leydig TM3 cells. Our results indicate that PAHs could be a potential etiological agent contributing to reproductive dysfunctions in males through an impairment of testicular GJIC and junctional and/or nonjunctional functions of Cx43.

The effects of PAHs and N-PAHs on retinoid signaling and Oct-4 expression in vitro.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their N-heterocyclic analogs (N-PAHs) are important environmental contaminants with negative effects in living organisms, including teratogenicity and embryotoxicity. Though most studies linked their embryotoxicity with aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and cytochrome P450 activation, the exact mechanism is not known. Other mechanisms such as disruption of retinoid signaling were recently suggested to be of importance. This study investigated PAHs and N-PAHs interference with retinoid signaling in vitro by modulating all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) mediated response in a reporter gene assay using P19/A15 cell line. Further, effects on pluripotency and differentiation processes were evaluated by measuring octamer-4 (Oct-4), an important pluripotency marker and master differentiation factor. Two of the studied compounds, benz[a]anthracene and benz[c]acridine significantly up-regulated ATRA-mediated response in the co-exposure with a range of ATRA concentrations. Another structural N-PAH variant, 1,7-phenanthroline, downregulated ATRA-mediated response at most of tested ATRA concentrations and exposure times. Interesting concentration-dependent biphasic effects (i.e. downregulation with subsequent up-regulation to control levels) were observed at co-exposures of ATRA and parent PAH phenanthrene. Non significant Oct-4 modulation in co-exposure with ATRA was observed at compounds, which potentiated ATRA-mediated effects in the reporter gene assay. On the other hand, 1,7-phenanthroline and phenanthrene significantly suppressed Oct-4 levels in higher tested concentrations. Our results further extend the knowledge of PAH and N-PAH in vitro effects and indicate that these environmental toxicants may have influence on differentiation process and embryonic development by interfering with ATRA signaling and by modulating levels of Oct-4.