Perspectives on the Use of Toxicogenomics to Assess Environmental Risk

Abstract

Environmental toxicogenomics aims to collect, analyze and interpret data on changes in gene expression and protein activity resulting from exposure to toxic substances using high-performance omics technologies. Molecular profiling methods such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics techniques, permit the simultaneous analysis of a multitude of gene variants in an organism exposed to toxic agents to search for genes prone to damage, detect patterns and mechanisms of toxicity, and identify specific gene expression profiles that can provide biomarkers of exposure and risk. Compared to previous approaches to measuring molecular changes caused by toxicants, toxicogenomic technologies can improve environmental risk assessment while reducing animal studies. We discuss the prospects and limitations of converting omic datasets into valuable information, focusing on assessing the risks of mixed toxic substances to the environment and human health.

Breast Cancer Exposomics

“…BC is mainly caused by mutations in multiple oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, accompanying epigenetic aberrations of genes and protein pathways [ 61 ]. Thus, first of all, environmental toxicogenomics aims to collect, analyze, and interpret data on the changes in genes or protein expression, resulting from exposure to xenobiotics, using high-throughput technologies [ 62 ]. Evidence suggests that various pollutants, such as particulate matter involved in air pollution, act as carcinogenic factors in humans, inducing high rates of genomic instability [ 63 ], which is known as an initiator of BC development [ 61 ].…”

Polystyrene Micro- and Nanoplastics (PS MNPs): A Review of Recent Advances in the Use of -Omics in PS MNP Toxicity Studies on Aquatic Organisms

“…Consequently, one of the main challenges today is to understand the mechanism of the toxicity of MNPs correlated to the lethal/sublethal effects studied so far. With this aim, the aquatic ecotoxicology field can benefit significantly from using the -omics approaches, which are emerging systemic and holistic tools for the global identification of the processes and pathways involved in the normal and abnormal physiological states, that allow not only the study of the mode of action of chemicals, but also the prediction of their toxicological effects on a given biological system [37]. -Omics approaches permit the production of large-scale datasets, measuring simultaneously the changes in gene expressions, proteins, and metabolites (by application of transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, respectively) occurring at the molecular, cell, tissue, and whole-organism levels [38,39].…”