The Environmental Toxicology group studies and assesses the bioavailability and toxicity of existing and emerging contaminants and their mixtures. To this end, the group applies an array of lab toxicity tests (i.e. transgenic yeast, cell lines, zebrafish embryos and Daphnia magna models), and field assays conducted with feral fish and invertebrates from both marine and freshwater environments. Effects are assessed across different biological levels using transcriptomic, lipidomics, metabolomics, morphogenetic and specific cell response, including effects on whole organism and population.
Some of the key achievements of the group involve the use of biomarkers and sentinel species to biomonitor contamination in marine and freshwater systems, the first evidence of endocrine disruption in fish (estrogenic effects in fish) and aquatic invertebrates (imposex in gastropods), the application of -omic technologies to monitor effects and mode of action (MoA) on model species, the use of video-tracking technologies to assess neurobehavioral changes in model species, the determination of the ‘obesogenic’ effect of contaminants in fish, fish cell lines and invertebrates and the development of animal-free bioassays for endocrine disruption and related toxic effects.
- Study the mechanisms of action of toxicants altering growth, reproduction, energetic metabolism, phototactic behavior in Daphnia magna using omic and functional assays.
- Developing and use of cost-effective toxicity assays to identify toxic compounds in complex mixtures in the field
- Elucidation of the molecular bases of the neurotoxic effects caused by some environmental pollutants and drugs using zebrafish as vertebrate model.
- Gene expression in animal species of environmental interest
- Cell death mechanisms
- Identification of new biomarkers from transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis
- Development of tissue and cell based bioassays for the detection endocrine disruption and related toxic effects
- Lipidomic tools to monitor effects of contaminants and unravel toxicity pathways in model species
Research Facilities:
- Four fully equipped labs to conduct biochemistry, molecular and analytical chemistry work.
- Zebra fish housing facility
- CT room to culture Daphnia magna and algae
- Behavioural facility room
- Microscopy facility room…
- Histology facility room
- Spectrofluorimeter microplate readers
- Respirometry
- Spectrometry
- Genomics service equipped with real time PCR instruments (LC480, Roche), PCR termocycler (Biorad), Nanodrop Spectrophotometer, Bioanalyzer (Agilent technologies) and Gel Logic 200 Imaging System (Kodak)
- Cell culture facility
BIOPLAS
New Approach Methodologies for evaluating the toxicity of biodegradable plastics and plastic additives
The occurrence of plastic and its associated chemicals in the aquatic environment is an issue of great social and economic concern.
Investigating the toxic effects of plastics and associated chemicals is a challenging task. In recent years, global research efforts are being
directed towards the development and application of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) based on in vitro systems that do not require
the use of living organism and provide information on chemical hazard by elucidating the mechanisms of toxicity. Within this context, there
is growing interest in the development of models that predict realistic exposure scenarios using repeated or chronic exposures at lower
doses to provide more environmentally relevant results as well as reducing animal testing. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) cells culture or
monolayer cell cultures are a very useful approach, but have some limitations when predicting in-vivo effects. This has driven the
development of more realistic and predictive three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models to improve the prognostic capability of in vitro
testing systems
This project aims to improve the predictability and to validate selected NAMs (fish cell monolayers, spheroids, mussel explants) for toxicity
assessment of bio-based and biodegradable plastics, as well as plastic additives. The project explores the analysis of the lipidome and
proteome together with traditional toxicological data (cell viability, gene expression, enzymatic activities), to characterize the complexity of
the biological response and the alterations produced by a selected number of plastic extracts. The application of integrative and projection
models such as the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) will facilitate the linkage between molecular responses and an adverse outcome,
and will help to alert on the deterioration of aquatic systems.
This project, by developing new relevant cell models and high-throughput systems will provide integrative and reliable indicators of
environmental and health impact, from which both plastic producers and policy makers can benefit for a better management and protection
of natural resources and fulfil the social demand for a safer environment.
Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. PID2021-122592NB-I00
- IDAEA Personnel:
- Cinta Porte (PI)
- Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh (postDoc)
- Tiantian Wang (PhD student)
- Gemma López (PhD student)
- Miquel Perrelló (PTA)
- Non-IDAEA Personnel:
- Montserrat Solé (ICM-CSIC, co-IP)
- Amparo Torreblanca (Universidad de Valencia)