Transcriptome changes of Takifugu obscurus liver after acute exposure to phenanthrene

Phenanthrene (Phe) is a model compound in PAHs research. Reportedly, Phe treatment induced oxidative stress and histological disorders to Takifugu obscurus liver. In the present study, to further explore the molecular responses of T. obscurus liver to Phe exposure, transcriptome sequencing was applied to compare mRNA transcription profiles between Phe treatment and the control. Compared with the control, 1581 and 1428 genes were significantly upregulated and downregulated in Phe treatment, respectively. Further analysis revealed that Phe treatment mainly upregulated genes in Ras-MAPK and PI3K-akt signaling pathways, which represented insulin resistance and further activated the FOXO signaling pathway. The triacylglycerol biosynthesis was promoted but the gluconeogenesis process was inhibited in response to Phe treatment, demonstrating that Phe exposure disturbed the sugar and lipid metabolism. Moreover, Phe treatment upregulated the apelin-AJP and ErbB signaling pathways, promoting angiogenesis in T. obscurus liver. Insulin resistance, promoted triacylglycerol biosynthesis and angiogenesis might explain the molecular mechanisms underlying carcinogenic toxicity of Phe. Overall, this study provides new insights to understand the environmental risk of Phe to fishes.