Deviant development of pancreatic beta cells from embryonic exposure to PCB-126 in zebrafish

Exposures to co-planar PCBs and dioxins have been associated with diabetes in epidemiologic studies. Individuals may be predisposed to diseases such as diabetes as a result of exposure to environmental contaminants during early life, resulting in dysmorphic pancreatic islets or metabolically fragile β-cells. We tested the hypothesis that embryonic exposure to a model Ahr-ligand, PCB-126 would cause structural and/or functional alterations to the developing primary pancreatic islet in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). To assess β-cell development, transgenic zebrafish embryos (Tg(ins:GFP) and Tg(ins:mcherry) were exposed to nominal concentrations of 2 or 5 nM PCB-126 or DMSO from 24–48 h post fertilization (hpf), and imaged via time-lapse microscopy from 80–102 hpf. We identified defects including hypomorphic islets, altered islet migration, islet fragmentation, and formation of ectopic β-cells. As we recently showed the transcription factor Nrf2a is protective in PCB-126 embryotoxicity, we then assessed the transcriptional function of the islets in wildtype and nrf2afh318/fh318 mutant embryos. We measured gene expression of preproinsulin a, somatostatin2, pdx1, ghrelin, and glucagon. Expression of preproinsulin a increased with PCB treatment in wildtype embryos, while expression of all measured pancreas genes was altered by the nrf2a mutant genotype, suggesting misregulation of the glucose homeostasis axis in those embryos, independent of PCB treatment. This study shows that embryonic exposure to PCB-126 can result in deviant development of the pancreatic islet and suggests that Nrf2a plays a role in regulating glucose homeostasis during development.