Respuestas biológicas del ratón moruno Mus spretus a contaminantes presentes en el entorno de Doñana. Efecto modulador de suplementos en la dieta

Resum

Exposure to contaminants is one of the main challenges in the world, due to their risks for humans and ecosystems. Powerful analytical tools, mainly linked to the detection of biological responses elicited by the exposure to such contaminants are needed to assess the environmental quality within ecosystems. In this context, omic methodologies, in conjunction with conventional biomarkers, have proven to be very useful as shown in previous studies using Mus spretus mice as environmental pollution bioindicators in terrestrial ecosystems of Doñana National Park, Spain. The complexity of the ecosystems and the synergic/antagonist processes among contaminants make it difficult to set a clear, unambiguous link between a given contaminant and the biological responses elicited. Despite this issue, this type of studies is essential to integrate all variables present in the ecosystem and their interactions with the organisms studied. To clearly establish the cause-effect relationship, it is necessary to carry out experiments of controlled exposure to contaminants under laboratory conditions, where all the variables can be monitored, including the possible interactions of the toxicants with the diet. This way, it is possible to identify the action mechanisms by which the contaminants exert their toxicity in the organisms. This work aims to elucidate the molecular basis underlying the biological responses induced in M. spretus mice by exposure to p,p’-DDE (dichlorodipheniltrichloroethilene). This is a metabolic byproduct of the organochlorine pesticide DDT (dichlorodipheniltrichloroethane), banned in the 70s due to its toxicity and persistence in the environment. For this purpose, omic, semi-omic and conventional biomarker approaches have been used at different molecular levels (transcripts, proteins and metabolites) using raisedin- captivity M. spretus as model. To convey a broader view of the processes, these studies have been complemented with enzymatic activity assays and histopathological analysis.