First detection of CYP1A1 and CYP2B induction in Mediterranean cetacean skin biopsies and cultured fibroblasts by Western blot analysis.

The need to develop powerful tools to detect exposure and effects of POPs and emerging contaminants in Mediterranean cetaceans led us to develop a suite of sensitive non-lethal biomarkers in integument biopsies of free-ranging animals. In order to propose induction of CYP1A1 and CYP2B, detected by Western blot analysis, as biomarkers of exposure to OCs, PAHs and PBDEs, a three-phase experimental protocol (in vitro experiments, calibration experiments and field applications) was followed using fibroblast cell cultures and biopsies of Mediterranean Stenella coeruleoalba and Tursiops truncatus. This methodology was confirmed to be sensitive and stable in comparison to previous methods used to detect CYP1A1 in biopsies, enabling analysis of several inducible proteins in non-lethal samples and analysis of material from stranded animals.