Analysis of the Dreissena polymorpha gill proteome following exposure to dioxin-like PCBs: Mechanism of action and the role of gender

PCBs are a persistent environmental problem due to their high stability and lipophilicity. The non-ortho- and the mono-ortho-substituted PCBs (dioxin-like-PCBs) share a common and well-described toxicity mechanism in vertebrates, initially involving binding to cytosolic AhRs. Invertebrate AhRs, however, show a lack of dioxin binding, and little information is available regarding the mechanism of toxicity of dl-PCBs in invertebrates. In this study, a proteomic approach was applied to analyse the variations in the pattern of the gill proteome of the freshwater mussel Dreissena polymorpha. Mussels were exposed to a mixture of dl-PCBs, and to perform a more in-depth evaluation, we chose to investigate the role of gender in the proteome response by analysing male and female mussels separately. The results revealed significant modulation of the gill tissue proteome: glycolysis and Ca2+ homeostasis appear to be the main pathways targeted by dl-PCBs. In light of the differences between the male and female gill proteome profiles following exposure to dl-PCBs, further in-depth investigations of the role of gender in the protein expression profiles of a selected biological model are required.