Chapter 12 - New Frontiers in Endocrine Disruptor Research

Abstract

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are prevalent in the environment and include synthetic compounds such as pharmaceuticals and industrial by-products as well as natural compounds that interfere with one or more aspects of endogenous hormone action. Such compounds can act via competitive activation, inhibition, and/or allosteric regulation of proteins (e.g., receptors, transporters, signaling proteins). Consequently, exposure to EDCs can induce detrimental effects on the endocrine, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. EDCs also modulate the gut microbiome, which affects metabolism and host physiology, leading to neurobehavioral disruptions via the microbiome–gut–brain axis. This chapter provides an overview of emerging strategies as well as traditional approaches to screen and detect new EDCs. Additionally, it outlines novel mechanisms of EDC actions (e.g., epigenetic effects) as well as potential EDC replacements, and presents current knowledge on emerging EDCs such as gas anesthetics and pharmaceuticals. Finally, this chapter highlights recent progress and pioneering omics and bioinformatics approaches that are propelling EDC research in new directions and generating fundamental insights into how EDCs cause pathological changes. The integration of omics studies with well-established phenotypic and toxicological endpoints, as well as new machine learning capabilities, is expected to pave the way for future EDC risk assessment, regulatory policies, and remediation strategies. The ultimate goal and a central theme of this chapter is to predict potential EDC toxicity of newly designed chemicals before they are mass produced and released into the environment.