PNNL

Abstract

Both soldiers and animals are exposed to many chemicals as the result of military activities. Tools are needed to understand the hazards and risks that chemicals and new materials pose to soldiers and the environment. We have investigated the potential of global gene regulatory networks in understanding the impact of chemicals on reproduction. We characterized effects of chemicals on ovaries of the model animal system, the Fathead minnow (Pimopheles promelas) connecting chemical impacts on gene expression to circulating blood levels of the hormones testosterone and estradiol in addition to the egg yolk protein vitellogenin. We describe the application of reverse engineering complex interaction networks from high dimensional gene expression data to characterize chemicals that disrupt the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal endocrine axis that governs reproduction in fathead minnows. The construction of global gene regulatory networks provides deep insights into how drugs and chemicals effect key organs and biological pathways.