TY - JOUR
T1 - The simultaneous detection of mitochondrial DNA damage from sun-exposed skin of three whale species and its association with UV-induced microscopic lesions and apoptosis
AU - Bowman, Amy
AU - Martinez-Levasseur, Laura M.
AU - Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina
AU - Gendron, Diane
AU - Birch-Machin, Mark A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Institute of Cellular Medicine , the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Newcastle University) and the UK NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Ageing and Age-related Disease to the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust . Fieldwork was funded by the Instituto Politecnico National (IPN, Mexico) , National Environmental Research Council (NERC, UK; NE/F00818X/1 ), the Institute of Zoology (Case partner for NE/F00818X/1) and CONACYT ( CB-2006-61982 ). Samples were collected under permits SGPA/DGVS/00506/08, SGPA/DGVS/09760/08 and SGPA/DGVS/08021/06 issued by SEMARNAT.
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - Due to life history and physiological constraints, cetaceans (whales) are unable to avoid prolonged exposure to external environmental insults, such as solar ultraviolet radiation (UV). The majority of studies on the effects of UV on skin are restricted to humans and laboratory animals, but it is important to develop tools to understand the effects of UV damage on large mammals such as whales, as these animals are long-lived and widely distributed, and can reflect the effects of UV across a large geographical range. We and others have used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as a reliable marker of UV-induced damage particularly in human skin. UV-induced mtDNA strand breaks or lesions accumulate throughout the lifespan of an individual, thus constituting an excellent biomarker for cumulative exposure. Based on our previous studies in human skin, we have developed for the first time in the literature a quantitative real-time PCR methodology to detect and quantify mtDNA lesions in skin from sun-blistered whales. Furthermore the methodology allows for simultaneous detection of mtDNA damage in different species. Therefore using 44 epidermal mtDNA samples collected from 15 blue whales, 10 fin whales, and 19 sperm whales from the Gulf of California, Mexico, we quantified damage across 4.3. kilobases, a large region of the ~. 16,400 base pair whale mitochondrial genome. The results show a range of mtDNA damage in the skin of the three different whale species. This previously unreported observation was correlated with apoptotic damage and microscopic lesions, both of which are markers of UV-induced damage. As is the case in human studies, this suggests the potential use of mtDNA as a biomarker for measuring the effect of cumulative UV exposure in whales and may provide a platform to help understand the effects of changing global environmental conditions.
AB - Due to life history and physiological constraints, cetaceans (whales) are unable to avoid prolonged exposure to external environmental insults, such as solar ultraviolet radiation (UV). The majority of studies on the effects of UV on skin are restricted to humans and laboratory animals, but it is important to develop tools to understand the effects of UV damage on large mammals such as whales, as these animals are long-lived and widely distributed, and can reflect the effects of UV across a large geographical range. We and others have used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as a reliable marker of UV-induced damage particularly in human skin. UV-induced mtDNA strand breaks or lesions accumulate throughout the lifespan of an individual, thus constituting an excellent biomarker for cumulative exposure. Based on our previous studies in human skin, we have developed for the first time in the literature a quantitative real-time PCR methodology to detect and quantify mtDNA lesions in skin from sun-blistered whales. Furthermore the methodology allows for simultaneous detection of mtDNA damage in different species. Therefore using 44 epidermal mtDNA samples collected from 15 blue whales, 10 fin whales, and 19 sperm whales from the Gulf of California, Mexico, we quantified damage across 4.3. kilobases, a large region of the ~. 16,400 base pair whale mitochondrial genome. The results show a range of mtDNA damage in the skin of the three different whale species. This previously unreported observation was correlated with apoptotic damage and microscopic lesions, both of which are markers of UV-induced damage. As is the case in human studies, this suggests the potential use of mtDNA as a biomarker for measuring the effect of cumulative UV exposure in whales and may provide a platform to help understand the effects of changing global environmental conditions.
KW - Apoptosis
KW - Marine mammals
KW - Mitochondrial DNA
KW - Skin
KW - Ultraviolet radiation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877883267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.mito.2013.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.mito.2013.04.003
M3 - Artículo
SN - 1567-7249
VL - 13
SP - 342
EP - 349
JO - Mitochondrion
JF - Mitochondrion
IS - 4
ER -