Effect of xenoestrogen exposure on the expression of FoxA2 in the oviduct of the broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris)

TAVALIERI, Y.E.; LUQUE, E.H.; GALOPPO, G.H.; MUÑOZ-DE-TORO, M.; GALOPPO, G.H.; MUÑOZ-DE-TORO, M.; ALARCÓN, R.A.; ALARCÓN, R.A.; TAVALIERI, Y.E.; LUQUE, E.H.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Xth Meeting of the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology; 2019

Latin American Society for Developmental Biology

Caiman latirostris is a crocodilian species widely distributed in Argentina. Recently, we reported that caiman oviduct shows postnatal development and differentiation, and that caiman oviduct could be target of xenoestrogens early in life. FoxA2 is involved in the development and differentiation of the reproductive tract, and is expressed in the luminal epithelium of the mice oviduct. Our aims were to establish the FoxA2 expression ontogeny in caiman oviducts from neonatal to juvenile, and to evaluate the short term effect of early postnatal exposure to E2 or BPA. Archived paraffin-embedded samples from intact caimans were used for FoxA2 ontogeny study. To assess the effect of early postnatal exposure to E2 or BPA, caimans were treated with E2 (0.014 or 1.4 ppm) or BPA (1.4 or 140 ppm), and sacrificed 7 days after last injection. Oviduct expression of FoxA2 was assessed by immunohistochemistry and quantified by image analysis. At neonatal and early postnatal stages, FoxA2 is expressed homogeneously in the cytoplasm of the luminal epithelium. At late postnatal stage, a dotting pattern is observed. At juvenile stages, the expression of FoxA2 was observed not only in luminal epithelium but in the glands. Oviducts of caimans exposed to E2 1.4 ppm and BPA 140 ppm show decreased FoxA2 expression. Our results suggest that FoxA2 participate in oviduct development and that early postnatal exposure to xenoestrogens could disrupt this process impairing reproductive health later in life.