Development of toxicological assays, specifically embryotoxicity test for screening chemicals, drugs and nanomaterials
Many polychlorinated hydrocarbons used for industrial purposes have been banned for their persistence and high toxicity to the environment and humans. However, exact mechanisms of their toxicity in humans are not known. The goal is to determine the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other chlorinated chemicals on the growth and differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Some of the PCB congeners such as 2-chlorobiphenyl and 4-chlorobiphenyl were toxic at 10^(-7) M but caused differentiation at lower concentrations 10^(-8) M. Some of the differentiated cells expressed keratin marker. This study suggests that ESCs could be used as a model system for determining toxicity and teratogenicity of hazardous aromatics.
