Nanotox: Gene Expression Profiling of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: A Unique Safety Assessment Approach

Houston Advanced Research Center, Spring TX

Investigators

Abstract

0536679 Cunningham There is increasing concern about potential adverse effects of engineered nanoparticles (NP) on the environment and on human health. Engineered nanomaterials will be exposed to human cells in vitro and their toxicity will be assessed using the innovative technology of high throughput gene expression microarrays. There are four main objectives: a) to compile reproducible gene expression profiles of primary human lung cells exposed to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT), b) to apply different tiers of computational analysis to determine if toxicity is present, c) to compare across biological tissues with previous data from human skin cells (obtained with NSF SGER award) and d) to lay the foundation for a "systems biology" approach for predictive toxicity by merging traditional risk assessment methods with new toxicogenomics computational methods.