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Air Pollution and the Epigenome: A Model Relationship for the Exploration of Toxicoepigenetics
Citation:
McCullough, S., R. Dhingra, M. Fortin, AND D. Diaz-Sanchez. Air Pollution and the Epigenome: A Model Relationship for the Exploration of Toxicoepigenetics. Current Opinion in Toxicology. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 6:18-25, (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cotox.2017.07.001
Impact/Purpose:
Several key questions must be answered before we can effectively use epigenetic endpoints in air pollution risk assessment. This article proposes that while challenging, these questions can be answered through the concerted and collaborative efforts of molecular/cellular biologists, epidemiologists, clinical researchers, toxicologists, and risk assessors. It states the potential that these collaborations will produce the information that is necessary to establish a defensible weight-of-evidence framework to support the identification of susceptible populations through the application of novel epigenetic biomarkers.
Description:
The field of toxicoepigenetics is rapidly emerging to provide new insights into the relationship between environmental factors, the epigenome, and public health. Toxicoepigenetic data have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of environmental exposure effects and susceptibility. Studies in recent years have demonstrated that exposure to air pollution alters epigenetic modification states; however, continued advancement of the field is limited by the intrinsic complexity of the epigenome and inherent limitations of different types of studies (epidemiological, clinical, and in vitro) that are used in toxicoepigenetics. Overcoming these challenges will require a concerted and collaborative effort between molecular and cellular biologists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and risk assessors to develop a thorough and practical understanding of the relationship between air pollution exposure, the epigenome, and health effects. Here we review the current state of air pollution epigenetics and discuss perspectives on the necessary steps to move the field forward to determine the role that the epigenome plays in air pollution exposure effects and susceptibility.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Air Pollution and the Epigenome: A Model Relationship for the Exploration of Toxicoepigenetics