Where do we go from here: Challenges and the future of endocrine disrupting compound screening and testing

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1 ORD, NHEERL, Toxicity Assessment Division, U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Untied States of America
2 Toxicology Program, Dept of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
3 ORD, National Center for Computational Toxicology, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States of America
4 ORD, NHEERL, Mid-Continent Ecology Division, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, Minnesota, United States of America
5 Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards Centre, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.2605v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Computational Biology, Toxicology, Science Policy
Keywords
endocrine disruption, EDC screening, endocrine targets, in silico, epigenetics
Copyright
© 2016 Wilson et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Wilson VS, LeBlanc GA, Kullman S, Crofton K, Schmieder P, Jacobs MN. 2016. Where do we go from here: Challenges and the future of endocrine disrupting compound screening and testing. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2605v1

Abstract

Worldwide concern about the impacts of endocrine disrupting compounds on both human and environmental health has led to implementation of multiple screening and testing programs. In most cases these programs have focused on impacts to the estrogen, androgen and thyroid hormone (EAT) signaling pathways. The goal of the presentations in session five of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Focused Topic Meeting: Endocrine Disruption (February 4 – 6, 2014) was to discuss moving beyond EAT pathways to address current challenges and identify future approaches for the expansion of screening and testing programs. The session was chaired by Drs. Gerald A. LeBlanc and Vickie S. Wilson and included five presentations. Dr. Gerald A. LeBlanc provided insight on non-EAT endocrine targets that are known to be susceptible to endocrine disrupting compounds. Dr. Seth Kullman gave an overview of emerging technologies that hold promise for the screening of chemicals for interaction with EAT and other endocrine pathways. These were followed by two presentations on the current status and future promise of computational (Dr. Kevin Crofton) and in silico (Dr. Patricia Schmieder) approaches for screening and ranking chemicals for endocrine activity. Dr. Miriam Jacobs culminated the session with an overview of the current understanding of the role of epigenetics in endocrine regulation and approaches for evaluating chemicals for their ability to disrupt the epigenetic regulation of endocrine processes.

Author Comment

This paper summarizes the fifth session of a special series of papers (an overview paper and five session papers; all submitted as preprints to PeerJ Preprints) titled: " Where do we go from here: Challenges and the future of endocrine disrupting compound screening and testing '' about the Focused Topic Meeting held on this topic from 4 – 6 February, 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina, US. The series presents the knowledge disseminated and the discussions held on: a) the status of the USEPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, b) how data from both EDSP-directed testing and other sources may be interpreted and applied in regulatory settings and c) approaches for moving beyond estrogen, androgen and thyroid pathways to address current challenges and expanding future approaches to EDC testing.