Endocrine-disrupting industrial
chemicals
(EDCs) are released into the environment and interfere with
normal hormonal processes. Many researchers hypothesize
that inadvertent and untimely exposure to these EDCs during
critical periods of development, i.e., early postnatal or
in utero, may adversely affect the reproductive and general
health, growth, and development in both wildlife and
humans.Recently, it was reported that some estrogenic
chemicals can cause biological effects at levels below
those normally found safe.
The origins of the endocrine disrupter hypothesis may be
traced to reports on adolescent daughters born to women who
had taken the highly potent synthetic estrogen
diethylstilbestrol
(DES) during pregnancy. The negative consequences of this
practice began to emerge when studies reported that these
daughters developed a wide range of reproductive tract
abnormalities, including a rare form of vaginal cancer,
vaginal adenocarcinoma, and uterine malformations,
including hypoplasia.
Thus, the scope of our research is to understand
mechanisims leading to these effects by
(1)
investigating
estrogen
receptors expression and functions,
(2) recognizing and
characterizing genes and epigenetic effects controlling
susceptibility to EDCs
and
(3) understanding the
mechanisms of action for known EDCs at cellular and
molecular levels.