Chemical and Biological Assessment of Endocrine Disruptors in Waterways of Southeast Texas

德克萨斯州南部大学环境毒理学项目的遗传学和分子生物学研究人员将对德克萨斯州东南部水域的环境污染进行评估。研究将集中在加尔维斯顿湾下游流域的化学和生物内分泌干扰物。研究工作将：(1)识别和量化内分泌干扰物；(2)测量内分泌干扰物对雌激素敏感细胞系细胞增殖和DNA修复的影响；(3)评估经内分泌干扰物处理的神经元细胞中多巴胺含量的变化，并进一步研究这些化学物质可能破坏多巴胺含量的机制。本项目支持一批即将入学的博士生；教师和研究生参加专业会议；以及，本科生和高中生通过暑期实习项目管理的监督研究机会。将在项目第三年举行一次关于德克萨斯州水道环境污染多学科评估的区域会议。该项目结合了最先进的监测能力和前沿的基础研究，以确定暴露于已确定的水生内分泌干扰物的生物学后果。这项工作将由德克萨斯南方大学的研究人员进行，将包括高中、本科和研究生阶段未被充分代表的少数民族学生。拟议活动的更广泛影响包括提高托国立的博士培养能力，以及增加少数民族学生进入stem相关研究生领域的人数。

HRD- 0401587Chemical and Biological Assessment of Endocrine Disruptors in Waterways in Southeast TexasTexas Southern UniversityPI: Joseph JonesGenetics and molecular biology researchers from Texas Southern University's Environmental Toxicology program will assess environmental contamination in the waterways of southeast Texas. Research will focus on chemical and biological endocrine disruptors in the lower Galveston Bay watershed. Research efforts will: (1) identify and quantify endocrine disruptors; (2) measure the effects of endocrine disruptors on cell proliferation and DNA repair in estrogen-sensitive cell lines; and (3) evaluate changes in dopamine content in neuronal cells treated with endocrine disruptors, and further examine the mechanism by which these chemicals may disrupt dopamine content.The project supports for a cadre of incoming doctoral students; faculty and graduate student participation at professional meetings; and, undergraduate and high school student supervised research opportunities managed through a Summer Internship Program. A regional conference on the multidisciplinary assessment of environmental contamination in Texas waterways will be held project-year 3.This project combines state of the art monitoring capabilities with cutting-edge basic research to define the biological sequel of exposure to identified aquatic endocrine disruptors. The work, to be conducted by Texas Southern University researchers, will incorporate underrepresented minority students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Broader impacts of the proposed activity include the enhancement of the doctoral training capacity of TSU, and an increase in the number of underrepresented minority students entering into STEM-related graduate fields.