Caillaud: Research in Biology Spring 2012 Projects

MARINA CAILLAUD (section 8) 

Mammals, including Humans, are subjected to daily exposure to a number of chemicals through their consumption of food from plastic containers that leach chemicals, interaction with plastic-based objects in their environment, consumption of tap water laden with chemical contaminants etc… Several studies, mostly performed on rodents, have suggested that some of those compounds could adversely affect the health of mammals (behavior, cancer rate, obesity, diabetes, etc.). However, not all genotypes of a particular mammalian species will be affected the same way by those chemicals. In other  words, individuals exposed to similar amounts of a particular chemical will not develop the same symptoms.

We propose to identify some of the biochemical pathways, and individual genes, that mediate the genotype-phenotype relationship in the presence of Bisphenol A, a chemical that is used as a plasticizer in food containers. First, we will use Microarray technology and RNAi screens to compare exposed to unexposed individuals, and identify crucial pathways and genes whose level of expression is modified as a result of exposure to BPA. Second, we will focus on some of the genes identified and compare their expression across different C. elegans genotypes in order to study gene by environment interactions that affect the organism’s reaction to exposure to Bisphenol A. 

Many C. elegans genes signal transduction pathways and biochemical pathways that are evolutionarily conserved between humans and worms. Hence, our studies are likely to help us identify orthologous genes in H. sapiens that are likely to be affected by exposure to BPA. This research will help in assessing the risk of exposure to BPA in humans and other animals, and will provide new insights into  functional role of various genes in response to  exposure to this pollutant.

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