Does 4-tert-octylphenol affect estrogen signaling pathways in bank vole Leydig cells and tumor mouse Leydig cells in vitro?

•Octylphenol affects estrogen signaling pathway in bank vole Leydig cells.•Octylphenol affects estrogen signaling pathway in MA-10 cells.•Octylphenol effects depend on the cellular origin.•Estrogen receptor α is affected by octylphenol at mRNA and protein level.•Octylphenol diversely affects cAMP and testosterone production in Leydig cells.

Primary Leydig cells obtained from bank vole testes and the established tumor Leydig cell line (MA-10) have been used to explore the effects of 4-tert-octylphenol (OP). Leydig cells were treated with two concentrations of OP (10−4 M, 10−8 M) alone or concomitantly with anti-estrogen ICI 182,780 (1 μM).In OP-treated bank vole Leydig cells, inhomogeneous staining of estrogen receptor α (ERα) within cell nuclei was found, whereas it was of various intensity among MA-10 Leydig cells. The expression of ERα mRNA and protein decreased in both primary and immortalized Leydig cells independently of OP dose. ICI partially reversed these effects at mRNA level while at protein level abrogation was found only in vole cells. Dissimilar action of OP on cAMP and androgen production was also observed.This study provides further evidence that OP shows estrogenic properties acting on Leydig cells. However, its effect is diverse depending on the cellular origin.