MSU Superfund Projects and Cores:

The MSU-CIT Superfund Program is sponsoring a workshop on Dioxin Toxicity: Mechanisms, Models & Potential Health Risks on October 20-21, 2008 at the MSU Kellogg Center. more

The MSU-CIT Superfund Program hosted a one-day workshop on September 19, 2007 to review and exchange ideas concerning dioxin and dioxin-like compounds. The proceedings of the workshop can be viewed on line. more

Project 1: Characterization of the Pathways Linking Ah Receptor Activation with Altered B Cell Differentiation Using an Integrated Experimental and Computational Modeling Approach

Project 2: Dissecting the Signaling Network for Ah Receptor-mediated Bcell Toxicity

Project 3: Non-Additive Ah Receptor Ligand Interactions

Project 4: Influence of Ah Receptor Ligands on Inflammatory Responses: Consequences for Tissue Injury and Gene Expression

Project 5: A Proteomic Analysis of the AHR signaling Network

Project 6: Molecular Insight into Polyaromatic Toxicant Degradation by Microbial Communities

Project 7: Geochemical Controls on the Adsorption, Bioavailability, and Long-term Environmental Fate of Dioxins, PCBs, and PAHs

Core A: Administration

Core B: Research Translation

Core C: Computational Modeling of Mammalian Biomolecular Response

Core D: Biomedical Informatics

Core E: Environmental Molecular Analysis

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Link to the NIEHS SBRP site

MSU Superfund Project

The MSU Superfund Program, now in its fifth competitive renewal and 17th year of continuous funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Basic Research Program, is designed to continue human health-oriented research on risks from exposure to chemicals commonly found in Superfund sites and on remediation technologies to eliminate the potential for exposure to chemicals from those sites.

The pollutants under investigation are a subclass of chemicals belonging to the halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon family that bind and activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). These chemicals, which include chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, biphenyls, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, are environmentally persistent lipid soluble compounds that accumulate in the food chain and lead to human and wildlife exposure. 

A highly integrated, multidisciplinary research program is underway consisting of seven research projects and five supporting core units. The research team of 27 investigators includes faculty at Michigan State University (20), CIIT Centers for Health Research (3), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (2), Purdue University (1), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1).

The central overarching theme of the new program is to define specific aspects of environmental, microbial, and mammalian biomolecular responses to environmental contaminants that act as ligands for the AhR.  The major research thrusts are in three areas:

1. characterizing the diversity of dehalogenases and oxygenase gene sequences in microbial populations indigenous to soils, sediments, and groundwater that metabolize AhR ligands;
2. defining the geochemical parameters governing adsorbtion, bioavailability, and long-term fate of AhR ligands through interactions with clays;
3. and elucidation and computational modeling of the biochemical pathways and their interactions with the ligand-activated AhR, which cause altered responses in the liver and the immune system, specifically in B cells. 

Two major goals are to characterize molecular mechanisms of AhR ligand interactions with specific abiotic and biotic processes and to develop new tools that can be used to more accurately estimate the fate, microbial biotransformation, and human risk associated with AhR ligands contaminating the environment.

Two support core facilities will assist the biomedical projects, one in the area of bioinformatics and a second in developing dynamic computational models of mammalian biological responses induced by AhR ligands. 

A third core facility will provide support for the non-biomedical projects in three areas related to analysis of microbial-derived enzymes: microarray development and enhancement; automated bioinformatics analysis of PCR product sequences; and biodegradative gene clusters; and high throughput screening and sequencing. 

In addition, a Research Translation core will communicate important research findings and outcomes emanating from the program to appropriate target audiences in government, industry, and academia.

Follow these links to learn more about each of the MSU Superfund Projects and Support Cores:

Project 1: Characterization of the Pathways Linking Ah Receptor Activation with Altered B Cell Differentiation Using an Integrated Experimental and Computational Modeling Approach

Project 2: Dissecting the Signaling Network for Ah Receptor-mediated Bcell Toxicity

Project 3: Non-Additive Ah Receptor Ligand Interactions

Project 4: Influence of Ah Receptor Ligands on Inflammatory Responses: Consequences for Tissue Injury and Gene Expression

Project 5: A Proteomic Analysis of the AHR Signaling Network

Project 6: Molecular Insight into Polyaromatic Toxicant Degradation by Microbial Communities

Project 7: Geochemical Controls on the Adsorption, Bioavailability, and Long-term Environmental Fate of Dioxins, PCBs, and PAHs

Core A: Administration

Core B: Research Translation

Core C: Computational Modeling of Mammalian Biomolecular Response

Core D: Biomedical Informatics

Core E: Environmental Molecular Analysis