Molecular and Cellular Toxicology

PROJECT WEBSITE(S): http://www.adaoa.ulg.ac.be/foodinter.htm
This project deals with an important aspect of the evolution of our relationships with food. We have moved to an increasingly complex food chain and consumer habits have dramatically changed.

Using BASE (BioArray Software Environment) and some of the R-packages bundled in Bioconductor, we are developing a generic platform for microarray data analysis in close collaboration with the Intelligent Systems Laboratory (University of Antwerp).

Using sewage diluted waste streams as blending different raw waste streams results in a complex mixture with unknown chemical compounds which have toxic effect on aquatic ecosystem. Characterization of waste streams is mostly based on chemical analytical analysis. Monitoring chemical concentrations of pollutants in complex waste streams as a means to assess environmental impact however has a major drawback as a number of factor like bioavailibity, mobility or toxicity of pollutants.Complex wastewater can contain many unknown pollutants which are not detectable using routine chemical assays. Therefore behind the chemical toxicity analysis,new approaches for monitoring toxicity of sewage and wastestreams are needed to experiment by using bioassays. Bioassays present a more detailed way of evaluating environmental samples. One of this bioassay method is using geneticaly engineered bacterias to detect the compounds causing ecological pollution and toxication.In this project these enginered transgenic cells that are induced by a toxic compound or by stress will be used. at same time new aproaches for screening wastertoxicity will be investigated and developed such as a bisensor device with portable design for in-situ toxicity detection by immobilizing geneticly engineered stress responsive bacteria onto tapered fiber optic tips. The knowledge which will be acquired with this new toxicity detection investigations will be used for an optimal effluent treatment as well as a development of an early warning system.

Due to the wide spread use of chemicals, pollution is impacting health and biota. In order to avoid severe adverse effects, (Environmental) risk assessment requires adequate monitoring to determine the presence of certain chemicals.

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPARs) are members of the of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily and are implicated in a variety of fundamental biological processes such as lipid metablism, inflammation and cell differentiation. PPARs are ligand mediated transcription factors that can be activated by a group of structurally diverse man-made chemicals, the so called peroxisome prolferators (PPs). This class of PPAR ligands consists of - apart from natural and synthetic fatty acids - a vast amount of human pharmaceuticals (e.g. fibrates) and perfluoralkyl compounds (e.g. PFOS and PFOA), a “new” class of environmental pollutents of which only recently the importance and worldwide dispersion has been reported.