Metals Core: Gene-Metal Interactions

Gene-Metal Interactions: Our Center has been actively engaging in multidisciplinary studies of metal toxicity, including genetics, nutrition and social sciences. Core members have been particularly active in addressing the role of genetics as a modifier of metal toxicity. In Bangladesh, investigators Dr. David Christiani is collaborating with Dhaka Community Hospital to assess the role of genetics in modifying the effects of both early and late outcomes following arsenic exposure, including genes which regulate the host response to oxidative stress such as the GST enzymes and genes which regulate DNA repair (McCarty, Chen et al. 2007; McCarty, Ryan et al. 2007). New grants have been recently funded that address genetic susceptibility to metals (As, Mn, Pb) and neurodevelopment (“Fetal Lead Exposure, Genes, & Neurodevelopment” PI: Hu & co-PI: Wright, R01ES007821; “Metal Mixtures and Neurodevelopment” PI: Wright, R01ES014930; “Metal Mixtures and Children’s Preschool Development” PI: David Bellinger, R01 ES016283) as well as genetic susceptibility to Arsenic in birth outcomes (“Arsenic Exposure and Birth Outcomes in Bangladesh” PI: Christiani, 1R01ES015533). This work highlights how our Metals Core is moving toward research which addresses gene-environment interaction specifically, but also more broadly how we address susceptibility to metal toxicity within subgroups of people in the general population.