Impact of environmental neurotoxic: current methods and usefulness of human stem cells

Heliyon

卷:6

Raquel Coronel¹  Victoria López²  Alberto Martín³  Isabel Liste³  María del Carmen González⁴  Andreea Oniga⁴  Andreea Rosca⁵  Rosa González⁵  Miryam Moreno⁵ 

[1] Toxicología Ambiental, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain;

[2] Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Raras (IIER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain;

[3] Unidad de Biología Computacional, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain;

[4] Unidad de Regeneración Neural, Unidad Funcional de Investigación de Enfermedades Crónicas (UFIEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain;

关键词: Brain development;    Pluripotent stem cells;    Multipotent stem cells;    Environmental pollutants;    Neurotoxicology;    Cell culture;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The development of central nervous system is a highly coordinated and complex process. Any alteration of this process can lead to disturbances in the structure and function of the brain, which can cause deficits in neurological development, resulting in neurodevelopmental disorders, including, for example, autism or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.Exposure to certain chemicals during the fetal period and childhood is known to cause developmental neurotoxicity and has serious consequences that persist into adult life. For regulatory purposes, determination of the potential for developmental neurotoxicity is performed according the OECD Guideline 426, in which the test substance is administered to animals during gestation and lactation. However, these animal models are expensive, long-time consuming and may not reflect the physiology in humans; that makes it an unsustainable model to test the large amount of existing chemical products, hence alternative models to the use of animals are needed.One of the most promising methods is based on the use of stem cell technology. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with the ability to self-renew and differentiate into more specialized cell types. Because of these properties, these cells have gained increased attention as possible therapeutic agents or as disease models.Here, we provide an overview of the current models both animal and cellular, available to study developmental neurotoxicity and review in more detail the usefulness of human stem cells, their properties and how they are becoming an alternative to evaluate and study the mechanisms of action of different environmental toxicants.

【 授权许可】

Unknown