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(22-38) Temporal expression of HSP-70, Acetylcholinesterase and cytochrome P450 in Mytilus galloprovincialis transplanted in a reference and a polluted site. Corsi, Ilaria*,1, Chiea, Riccardo1, Iacocca, Annalisa1, Viarengo, Aldo2, Focardi, Silvano1, 1 University of Siena, Siena, Italy2 University of Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy ABSTRACT- The need to define the biological impact of contaminants through the use of biomarker responses in sentinel species suggests the application of an expert system capable to combine data from various biomarkers into a single index that can express the level of environmental stress. The accumulation of heat-shock proteins HSP-70, the expression of mixed-function oxygenase (MFO) system components as benzo(a)pyrene monooxygenase (BaPMO), NADPH-cytochrome c (P450) reductase and NAD(P)H ferricyanide reductase and the inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) were investigated in digestive gland and gill of common mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) transplanted for 30 days from a clean-reference site into a highly petroleum-impacted site (Genoa harbour). Mussels were collected 7 times over a 30-day period (days 0, 3, 7, 14, 24, 30) from a reference site and from a site considered to be polluted both located off the Ligurian coast (NW Italy) in order to estimate the temporal variability in molecular and cellular responses as a results of environmental stress posed by the two study areas. Overall results regarding HSP-70 expression indicated greater accumulation in samples collected within the harbour area and also a time-dependent expression more evident in digestive gland than in gills. AChE activity varies substantially with time between the two tissues showing less difference than expected. Similar time-dependent expression was observed among enzymes assayed in the digestive glands including the two MFO activities and the AChE as well. No significant time-dependent BaPMO response was observed except for mussel collected at time 7 within the harbour area. Key words: HSP-70, AChE, cytochrome P450, Mitylus galloprovincialis |
