Quantitative image based analysis of endocrine disruptor effects on mitochondria morphology-function in prostate cancer cells

International audienceEndocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDC) are found in many everyday products, like food packaging, food preservative or additive, pesticides residues, etc… Widely distributed throughout the environment and bioaccumulable in living organisms, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a specific class of EDC that accumulate in fat deposit. Some of them have been recognized as causing adverse effects on human’s health such as diabetes and cancer by mimicking hormone effects on metabolism. Cancer cells display high metabolic flexibility allowing them to grow in various cellular environments and favoring their proliferative and invasive capacities. Mitochondria are key players in this complex interplay as they produce ROS, generate energy and participate in nucleotide synthesis and in glutamine metabolism of cancer cells. Regarding the importance of hormones on prostate cancer risk and outcomes, we are developing multiple parameters in vitro assays conducted in a high-throughput screening format relevant for prostate cancer metabolism and aggressiveness. This screening method includes, inter alia a microscopy based analysis of mitochondria structure and function. We analyzed the effects of five EDCs (Aldrin, BDE28, TCDD, PCB153, PFOA) identified in the plasma of patients on two prostate cancer cell lines, 22RV1 (androgen-responsive) and DU145 (androgen-unresponsive). Each compound was tested in a dose dependent manner to determine its effects on total mitochondrial mass, mitochondrial membrane potential, ROS production, mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy. In addition, we performed an image based computational analysis of the mitochondrial network morphology and dynamics. This strategy allows us to extract some quantitative parameters on the mitochondrial network as fragmentation index, compactness, average volume, etc. When combined, morphological and functional parameters allow us to discriminate subtle perturbations of the mitochondrial structure-function induced by POPs in prostate cancer cells. We are confident that this multiparameter analysis strategy could represent a new perspective in identification and characterization of EDC based on their effects on cell metabolism (phenoscore) in order to estimate their potential risk on human health