From Neurodevelopmen tal Models to Endocrine Disruption: Metabolomic Insights from In Vitr o and In Vivo Studies
Chemist Sara Evangelista foc used on how endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can affect early br ain development and contribute to long-term cognitive and behavioral problems. Early life is a vulnerable period in which hormones, neurot ransmitters, and lipids govern key neurodevelopmental processes, maki ng these systems potential targets for chemical disruption.< /p>
To better understand the underlying mechanisms, Evangelista com bined rat studies with human cortical brain organoids (CBOs), an emer ging model that mimics early human brain development. The CBO researc h provided a metabolic and lipidomic reference framework for evaluati ng the extent to which this model reflects the neurodevelopmental pat hways relevant to toxicity testing. Parallel to this, she investigate d how perinatal exposure to selected EDCs alters metabolic and hormon al pathways in the developing rat hippocampus and whether these early changes are associated with later behavioral deficits. The overarchi ng motivation was to generate mechanistic insights that would support more predictive and human-relevant approaches to assessing developme ntal neurotoxicity.
Normal Brain Development Can Be Dis
rupted
The research demonstrated that certain chemicals w
e are exposed to daily—known as endocrine disruptors (EDCs)—can d
isrupt normal brain development when exposure occurs very early in li
fe. In rats, Evangelista found that these chemicals altered key molec
ules in the developing brain, such as hormones, lipids, and neurotran
smitters, all of which are necessary for healthy growth. Some of thes
e early changes were associated with learning and memory problems lat
er in life, demonstrating that early disruption can have lasting cons
equences.
Promising Laboratory Models
Human
stem cell-derived brain organoids ("mini-brains") have also been sho
wn to develop metabolic characteristics similar to those observed in
early human brain development. This means they can serve as promising
laboratory models for studying how chemicals can affect the developi
ng brain without relying solely on animal testing. Overall, my work p
rovides early warning signs and tools to better identify chemicals th
at can harm brain development.
More information on the thes is
DESCRIPTION: From Neurodevelopmental Models to Endocrine Disruption: M etabolomic Insights from In Vitro and In Vivo Studies Chemist Sara Evangelista focused on how endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs ) can affect early brain development and contribute to long-term cogn itive and behavioral problems. Early life is a vulnerable period in w hich hormones, neurotransmitters, and lipids govern key neurodevelopm ental processes, making these systems potential targets for chemical disruption.To better understand the underlying mechanisms, E vangelista combined rat studies with human cortical brain organoids ( CBOs), an emerging model that mimics early human brain development. T he CBO research provided a metabolic and lipidomic reference framewor k for evaluating the extent to which this model reflects the neurodev elopmental pathways relevant to toxicity testing. Parallel to this, s he investigated how perinatal exposure to selected EDCs alters metabo lic and hormonal pathways in the developing rat hippocampus and wheth er these early changes are associated with later behavioral deficits. The overarching motivation was to generate mechanistic insights that would support more predictive and human-relevant approaches to asses sing developmental neurotoxicity.Normal Brain Development Can Be Disrupted