Editorial: Using Cells in Epidemiological Studies to Characterize Individual Response to Environmental Hazards

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Dora Il'yasova¹  Alexander V. Kinev² 

[1] Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, United States;Creative Scientist Inc., Research Triangle Park, United States

关键词: epidemiology;    susceptibility;    low-dose exposure;    cell-based assays;    individual variability;    risk stratification;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2019.00284

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The current advances in whole genome sequencing provided mounting evidence abouthuman genetic variability (1). Genetic variability largely contributes to the differences in individualresponses to chemicals; however, translation of individual or population-wide genomic data intoprediction of human phenotypical responses to external factors remains problematic (2–4). Inthis regard, studying responses of cells derived from individuals represent an opportunity to gaininsight into both individual susceptibility and population-wide variability to the known or potentialenvironmental toxicants. In many aspects, studying of in vitro cellular responses to xenobiotics issimilar to the in vivo challenge tests, such as oral glucose tolerance test (determining predispositionto developing type 2 diabetes) (5) or exercise test (used for the diagnosis of obstructive coronaryartery disease) (6). The main purpose of the challenge testing is to rank individuals as more or lesssusceptible to a challenge. Cell-based testing with exposure to xenobiotics follows the same concept,providing information for risk stratification in epidemiological studies. Donor-specific cells can beused as a proxy of individuals to assess susceptibility to external factors. Ranking of individualsby cellular responses translates genetic variability into biologically meaningful endpoints, such aschanges in cell cycle progression, death, or differentiation. Furthermore, cell-based assays mayexamine metabolic transformations as well as the role of cellular organelles, such as mitochondria,in variability of donor-specific responses. Thus, cellular responses can potentially portray individualsensitivity or resilience to environmental toxicants and ultimately serve as a foundation for theanalysis of population-wide variability in phenotypical responses to xenobiotics. These researchareas have explored how and whether human variability in response to possible exposures canbe accessed using human cells. Currently, human cells are used in cell-based toxicology—afast growing field that has both advantages (low cost and human relevance) and deficiencies(availability of human cells and lack of standardization). Building upon the methods of cellulartoxicology, cellular epidemiology can advance assessment of human susceptibility (or resilience) toenvironmental pressures. The presented collection of five manuscripts provides an interdisciplinaryperspective on the potential of moving epidemiology to a new level in the characterization ofindividual susceptibility to environmental exposures.

【 授权许可】

CC BY