Project description:Polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) is an endocrine-disrupting compound which was accidently added to the food supply in Michigan in the 1970’s. Highly exposed individuals and their children have numerous health problems, though the underlying mechanism behind these health problems remains unknown. Other endocrine-disrupting compounds have been linked to epigenetic differences, but no epigenetic studies have been done for PBB. In this study, DNA from the blood of individuals with PBB exposure from the Michigan PBB Registry was interrogated with the MethylationEPIC BeadChip (N = 659). Associations between each of the ~850,000 CpG sites and current, serum PBB levels were tested with a linear regression that controlled for age, sex, and cell type proportions. We show that exposure to PBB is associated with differences in epigenetic marks that suggest that it is acting similarly to estrogen and is associated with dysregulated immune system pathways.
Project description:Transcriptomic analysis of the cells grown on biphenyl in the sterilized soil and those grown on biphenyl to mid-exponential phase in a liquid medium
Project description:protein based stable isotope probing was performed for identifying microorganisms actually responsible for biphenyl biodegradation in soil environment.