Publication

Intestinal Fish Cell Barrier Model to Assess Transfer of Organic Chemicals in Vitro: An Experimental and Computational Study

Abstract

We studied the role of the fish intestine as a barrier for organic chemicals using the epithelial barrier model built on the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) intestinal cell line, RTgutGC and the newly developed exposure chamber, TransFEr, specifically designed to work with hydrophobic and volatile chemicals. Testing 11 chemicals with a range of physicochemical properties (logK(ow): 2.2 to 6.3, logHLC: 6.1 to 2.3) and combining the data with a mechanistic kinetic model enabled the determination of dominant processes underlying the transfer experiments and the derivation of robust transfer rates. Against the current assumption in chemical uptake modeling, chemical transfer did not strictly depend on the logK(ow) but resulted from chemical-specific intracellular accumulation and biotransformation combined with paracellular and active transport. Modeling also identified that conducting elaborate measurements of the plastic parts, including the polystyrene insert and the PET filter, is unnecessary and that stirring in the TransFEr chamber reduced the stagnant water layers compared to theoretical predictions. Aside from providing insights into chemical uptake via the intestinal epithelium, this system can easily be transferred to other cell-based barrier systems, such as the fish gill or mammalian intestinal models and may improve in vitro-in vivo extrapolation and prediction of chemical bioaccumulation into organisms.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related concepts (35)
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.
Fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animal that lacks limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of living fish species are ray-finned fish, belonging to the class Actinopterygii, with around 99% of those being teleosts. The earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied chordates that first appeared during the Cambrian period.
Trout
Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used for some similar-shaped but non-salmonid fish, such as the spotted seatrout/speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus, which is actually a croaker). Trout are closely related to salmon and have similar migratory life cycles.
Show more
Related publications (41)

Organ-specific biotransformation in salmonids: Insight into intrinsic enzyme activity and biotransformation of three micropollutants

Kristin Schirmer, Juliane Hollender

Aquatic ecosystems continue to be threatened by chemical pollution. To what extent organisms are able to cope with chemical exposure depends on their ability to display mechanisms of defense across different organs. Among these mechanisms, biotransformatio ...
Elsevier2024

The Bioaccumulation of Ionizable Organic Compounds in Fish Cell Lines

Fabian Gerhard Peter Balk

Bioaccumulation is defined as the enrichment of a compound in an organism relative to the surrounding water or its food, and is an important endpoint in chemical risk assessment. Under laboratory conditions, bioaccumulation is measured as bioconcentration ...
EPFL2023

Evaluation of tire tread particle toxicity to fish using rainbow trout cell lines

Kristin Schirmer, Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Benoît Jean Dominique Ferrari, Thibault Béranger Masset, Gabrielle Léger

Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) resulting from tire abrasion while driving raise concerns due to their potential contribution to aquatic toxicity. Our study aimed to assess cryogenically milled tire tread (CMTT) particle toxicity, used as a proxy for T ...
2023
Show more
Related MOOCs (1)
Water quality and the biogeochemical engine
Learn about how the quality of water is a direct result of complex bio-geo-chemical interactions, and about how to use these processes to mitigate water quality issues.