Development and validation of a species- and gene-specific molecular biomarker:: Vitellogenin mRNA in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)

The main focus of environmental endocrine disruption is understanding how hormone mimics may be affecting reproduction and development. The principle mode of action for hormones is to regulate gene expression. The vitellogenin mRNA assay described in this paper was developed to study the specific mechanisms of action by proposed xenoestrogens. The establishment of this method is widely applicable to different species and to different genes. This gene specificity is what makes it such a good method to characterize a particular mechanism of action. Vitellogenin was chosen due to its current value as a plasma protein biomarker for estrogen exposure. The vitellogenin mRNA assay serves as a valuable complement to plasma vitellogenin, as it increases the sensitivity of detection as well as its potential to detect an earlier estrogenic response. Once validated, it can be used in biomonitoring as an effective method to detect a specific mechanism of action in samples exposed to xenoestrogens.