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Braun G, Escher BI. Prioritization of mixtures of neurotoxic chemicals for biomonitoring using high-throughput toxicokinetics and mixture toxicity modeling. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 171:107680. [PMID: 36502700 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Modern society continues to pollute the environment with larger quantities of chemicals that have also become more structurally and functionally diverse. Risk assessment of chemicals can hardly keep up with the sheer numbers that lead to complex mixtures of increasing chemical diversity including new chemicals, substitution products on top of still abundant legacy compounds. Fortunately, over the last years computational tools have helped us to identify and prioritize chemicals of concern. These include toxicokinetic models to predict exposure to chemicals as well as new approach methodologies such as in-vitro bioassays to address toxicodynamic effects. Combined, they allow for a prediction of mixtures and their respective effects and help overcome the lack of data we face for many chemicals. In this study we propose a high-throughput approach using experimental and predicted exposure, toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic data to simulate mixtures, to which a virtual population is exposed to and predict their mixture effects. The general workflow is adaptable for any type of toxicity, but we demonstrated its applicability with a case study on neurotoxicity. If no experimental data for neurotoxicity were available, we used baseline toxicity predictions as a surrogate. Baseline toxicity is the minimal toxicity any chemical has and might underestimate the true contribution to the mixture effect but many neurotoxicants are not by orders of magnitude more potent than baseline toxicity. Therefore, including baseline-toxic effects in mixture simulations yields a more realistic picture than excluding them in mixture simulations. This workflow did not only correctly identify and prioritize known chemicals of concern like benzothiazoles, organochlorine pesticides and plasticizers but we were also able to identify new potential neurotoxicants that we recommend to include in future biomonitoring studies and if found in humans, to also include in neurotoxicity screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Braun
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany; Environmental Toxicology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Gilbert DF, Friedrich O, Wiest J. Assaying Proliferation Characteristics of Cells Cultured Under Static Versus Periodic Conditions. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2644:35-45. [PMID: 37142914 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3052-5_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Two-dimensional in vitro culture models are widely being employed for assessing a vast variety of biological questions in different scientific fields. Common in vitro culture models are typically maintained under static conditions, where the surrounding culture medium is replaced every few days-typically every 48 to 72 h-with the aim to remove metabolites and to replenish nutrients. Although this approach is sufficient for supporting cellular survival and proliferation, static culture conditions do mostly not reflect the in vivo situation where cells are continuously being perfused by extracellular fluid, and thus, create a less-physiological environment. In order to evaluate whether the proliferation characteristics of cells in 2D culture maintained under static conditions differ from cells kept in a dynamic environment, in this chapter, we provide a protocol for differential analysis of cellular growth under static versus pulsed-perfused conditions, mimicking continuous replacement of extracellular fluid in the physiological environment. The protocol involves long-term life-cell high-content time-lapse imaging of fluorescent cells at 37 °C and ambient CO2 concentration using multi-parametric biochips applicable for microphysiological analysis of cellular vitality. We provide instructions and useful information for (i) the culturing of cells in biochips, (ii) setup of cell-laden biochips for culturing cells under static and pulsed-perfused conditions, (iii) long-term life-cell high-content time-lapse imaging of fluorescent cells in biochips, and (iv) quantification of cellular proliferation from image series generated from imaging of differentially cultured cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F Gilbert
- Institute of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBI), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
| | - Oliver Friedrich
- Institute of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBI), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
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Rosca A, Coronel R, Moreno M, González R, Oniga A, Martín A, López V, González MDC, Liste I. Impact of environmental neurotoxic: current methods and usefulness of human stem cells. Heliyon 2020; 6:e05773. [PMID: 33376823 PMCID: PMC7758368 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of central nervous system is a highly coordinated and complex process. Any alteration of this process can lead to disturbances in the structure and function of the brain, which can cause deficits in neurological development, resulting in neurodevelopmental disorders, including, for example, autism or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Exposure to certain chemicals during the fetal period and childhood is known to cause developmental neurotoxicity and has serious consequences that persist into adult life. For regulatory purposes, determination of the potential for developmental neurotoxicity is performed according the OECD Guideline 426, in which the test substance is administered to animals during gestation and lactation. However, these animal models are expensive, long-time consuming and may not reflect the physiology in humans; that makes it an unsustainable model to test the large amount of existing chemical products, hence alternative models to the use of animals are needed. One of the most promising methods is based on the use of stem cell technology. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with the ability to self-renew and differentiate into more specialized cell types. Because of these properties, these cells have gained increased attention as possible therapeutic agents or as disease models. Here, we provide an overview of the current models both animal and cellular, available to study developmental neurotoxicity and review in more detail the usefulness of human stem cells, their properties and how they are becoming an alternative to evaluate and study the mechanisms of action of different environmental toxicants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreea Rosca
- Unidad de Regeneración Neural, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Toxicología Ambiental, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Raquel Coronel
- Unidad de Regeneración Neural, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miryam Moreno
- Unidad de Regeneración Neural, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rosa González
- Unidad de Biología Computacional, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andreea Oniga
- Toxicología Ambiental, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alberto Martín
- Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Raras (IIER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Victoria López
- Unidad de Biología Computacional, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - María del Carmen González
- Toxicología Ambiental, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Liste
- Unidad de Regeneración Neural, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
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Wegner SH, Park JJ, Workman T, Hermsen SAB, Wallace J, Stanaway IB, Kim HY, Griffith WC, Hong S, Faustman EM. Anchoring a dynamic in vitro model of human neuronal differentiation to key processes of early brain development in vivo. Reprod Toxicol 2020; 91:116-130. [PMID: 31740287 PMCID: PMC6980388 DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2019.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Revised: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
We characterize temporal pathway dynamics of differentiation in an in vitro neurotoxicity model with the aim of informing design and interpretation of toxicological assays. Human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) were cultured in differentiation conditions up to 21 days. Genes significantly changed through time were identified and grouped according to temporal dynamics. Quantitative pathway analysis identified gene ontology (GO) terms enriched among significantly changed genes and provided a temporal roadmap of pathway trends in vitro. Gene expression in hNPCs was compared with publicly available gene expression data from developing human brain tissue in vivo. Quantitative pathway analysis of significantly changed genes and targeted analysis of specific pathways of interest identified concordance between in vivo and in vitro expression associated with proliferation, migration, differentiation, synapse formation, and neurotransmission. Our analysis anchors gene expression patterns in vitro to sensitive windows of in vivo development, helping to define appropriate applications of the model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanna H Wegner
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Julie Juyoung Park
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Tomomi Workman
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Sanne A B Hermsen
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Jim Wallace
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Ian B Stanaway
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Hee Yeon Kim
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - William C Griffith
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Sungwoo Hong
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Elaine M Faustman
- Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.
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