As engineered nanomaterials (ENM) become more common in consumer products, it is crucial to rapidly assess toxicity of unique ENM. Previous studies rarely focused on standardizing nanotoxicity testing, leading to inconsistent and irreproducible results. This study characterized a variety of ENM of different size, shape, core type, and surface charge...
Arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are polyunsaturated fatty acids required for proper embryonic development, specifically neurodevelopment. However, little is known regarding their conversion to other metabolites during embryogenesis. The oxidation of ARA gives rise to the biologically active eicosanoids and the oxidation of DHA gives rise to the...
The atmospheric transport and deposition of semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs), including current and historic use pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), to mountain ecosystems may result in the exposure of tadpoles to these SOCs. This exposure has been implicated in amphibian population declines in California. Tadpoles encounter...
Assessing the risk from exposure to a chemical mixture in the environment can seem prohibitively challenging. Most components of the mixture are not readily identifiable, chemicals may interact to cause other-than-additive toxicity, and the number of potential combinations of environmental contaminants is enormous. These challenges can make it seem impossible...
Signal transduction within and between cells is at the core of biological activity in all living systems. Signaling networks are required for regulating biological functions, including growth, development and survival. Deregulation of signaling cascades has been linked to chronic and acute diseases and disorders This thesis focuses on mass spectrometry...
Chemicals must be bioavailable for there to be a potential for exposure and consequent risk to human or environmental health. Passive sampling devices (PSDs) are used to quantify the time-integrated concentration of bioavailable contaminants. We demonstrate that PSDs can be paired with the zebrafish developmental toxicity bioassay to produce site-specific,...
Auditory defects and disorders are prevalent at all ages and affect 8% of the population in developed nations including newborns and children. Congenital hearing loss is the most common birth defect and it is estimated that 1 in 1000 children are affected by deafness at birth or before the onset...
It is the responsibility of humans, as environmental stewards, to monitor our impact on the environment so that efforts can be made to remediate the effects of our actions and change behaviors. To better understand our environmental footprint, sensitive and simple analytical methods are needed to quantify the contaminants that...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a re-emerging class of environmental pollutants. The persistent nature of these highly toxic compounds along with their ubiquity in the environment creates an unavoidable route of exposure. The developing fetus and neonate are a particularly susceptible population due to their incomplete complement of xenobiotic metabolizing...
Antisense morpholino oligomers are synthetic macromolecules can modify gene expression. While these compounds have great potential to treat a broad range of human diseases, they suffer from poor cellular delivery. Conjugating cell-penetrating peptides onto these morpholinos is one option of addressing delivery, however development remains slow due to the cost...