Development of bio-physical communication model predicting potential toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants that occur in various chemical forms across the terrestrial and marine environments and have long been of the subject of intense research worldwide due to their highly toxic properties. PAHs are uptaken by bio-organisms and activated to electrophilic metabolites to exert their toxic effects. Meanwhile, different toxicity of PAHs with similar structure and molecular weight could not been accurately explained by current in silico models. Using PAH target materials, we will develop bio-physical communication model based on two hypotheses: a) biological activity of a toxicant with the receptor ligand in bio-organism is influenced by electron-mediated reaction and b) when different toxicants with the same concentration react with the same receptor, their biological activity is solely dependent to the material’s physico-chemical properties. New toxicity prediction model would help us understand biological response against toxicant’s physico-chemical properties characterized using synchrotron-radiation X-ray spectroscopy. Upon successful development, this model will serve as an absolute toxicity assessment tool for screening chemicals and evaluating the safety of pharmaceutical products rapidly, which will result in significant abatement of traditional animal testing.

Faculty Supervisor:

Gap Soo Chang

Student:

Partner:

Seoul National University

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program: