Das Projekt "Wasserqualitaet: Entwicklung eines Satzes Biomarker als Instrument zur Bewertung der Wasserqualitaet" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Bern, Zentrum für Fisch- und Wildtiermedizin, Institut für Tierpathologie durchgeführt. The pollution of the environment also causes problems in water systems. The existing waste water protection plants are often overcharged. Although chemical analyses of river systems achieve the legislative conditions, many of the rivers showed decreased fish populations. Thus, to avoid damage to man and the environment, the control of these effluents is necessary as well as the effective recording of the environmental pollution. Even if much effort was made in the last years, many basic questions of how organisms react on environmental pollutants and what the causes for their reactions are, are still open. Our general project consists of two parts: In the first part, expositions and field studies are performed to test several biomarker in fish exposed in a river system. This studies are already underway. In the second part, we focus our attention to the fish epidermis as one potential target organ. For this, we develop an in vitro system of cultured fish epidermis which enables us to study pathogenetic mechanisms of pollutant-induced injury or influence on the organnisms defense mechanisms. With this proposal, we apply for funding of the second part only. In summary, the proposed project provides a comprehensive approach to determine the effects of chronic, subtoxic water pollution on the ecosystem using the fish as an indicator organism. By determination of alterations in cellular functions of a living organism, a highly sensitive monitoring system will allow detection of sublethal imbalances of the ecosystem. Leading Questions: Is the epidermis of fish a valuable indicator organ to assess water quality? Which are the most important physiological and biochemical parameters which change specifically under inadequate environmental influences and, therefore, may serve as biomarkers? Is a primary epidermis culture of fish a useful model to study pathogenetic mechanisms triggered by pollutants and adverse environmental conditions?
Das Projekt "Comprehensive assessment of hazardous effects of engineered nanomaterials on the immune system (NANOMMUNE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Karolinska Institute durchgeführt. Objective: Engineered nanomaterials (ENs) present tremendous opportunities for industrial growth and development, and hold great promise for the enrichment of the lives of citizens, in medicine, electronics, and numerous other areas. However, there are considerable gaps in our knowledge concerning the potential hazardous effects of ENs on human health and the environment. Our EU-US partnership is committed to filling these knowledge gaps through a comprehensive assessment of ENs, with particular focus on effects on the immune system. The immune system is designed to respond to pathogens and foreign particles, and a core concept underpinning the current project is that the recognition versus non-recognition of ENs by immune-competent cells will determine the distribution as well as the toxicological potential of these materials. Our multidisciplinary consortium will focus on the procurement, synthesis and detailed physico-chemical characterization of representative categories of ENs, and the monitoring of potential hazardous effects using an array of in vitro and in vivo systems, as well as transcriptomic and oxidative lipidomic testing to determine specific nanotoxic profiles (signatures) of these materials. The final and integrative component of our research project is risk assessment of potential adverse effects of ENs on human health, and the dissemination of our findings. Through our comprehensive approach, which combines analytical procedures from many different disciplines and leading experts from several national institutes devoted to occupational and environmental safety, we aim to establish a panel of read-out systems for the prediction of the toxic potential of existing and emerging ENs, thus enabling a continuous and sustainable growth of the nanotechnologies. Overall, the results generated through this international program will contribute to the understanding and mitigation of possible adverse effects of nanomaterials.