Fig. 4.

In vivo evidence for chlordecone activation of PXR. Animals were treated with corn oil, or 15 mg CD/kg (15 CD) body weight by ip injection. Hepatic microsomes were prepared from individual animals (5–6 mice in each group) after 3 days as described under Materials and methods. (A) Immunoblot analyses of CYP7A1, CYP4A1, and CYP3A11 proteins in liver microsomes. Total 20 μg protein samples were separated by SDS-PAGE and blotted with antibodies against the specific CYP isoforms as described under Materials and methods. Values were expressed as the mean relative protein expression (A.U.)±SE compared with the controls. (B) Enzyme activity analyses of CH 7 α-hydroxylase for CYP7A1, lauric acid ω-1 hydroxylase for CYP4A1, and 6β-testosterone hydroxylase for CYP3A. Values were expressed as the mean relative enzyme activity (%)±SE compared with the controls. A significant difference from vehicle injected controls was detected as described in Materials and methods and indicated by an asterisk.