Mechanistic modelling of the link between early effect biomarkers and impacts on populations on Threespine Stickleback

Biomarkers are known for being useful tools in risk assessment. They act like an early alarm system of the organism in response to exposition to pollutants. Nevertheless, risk assessment for the ecosystem should not only be limited to individual but should evaluate the risk for the whole population. The main limitation in biomarker measurements lies in the transition between cell to individual, and individual to population.

At INERIS, a lot has been done to fill this gap using a model organism, the Threespine Stickleback. In particular, a PBTK model has been built to evaluate the toxicokinetic of various xenobiotics in different fish, including Stickleback and numerous biomarkers have been developed to assess the quality of stickleback ecosystem. In parallel, EDCs (endocrine disruptor compounds) have been subject to an increasing source of interest at the institute, and among them, bisphenol A and its substitutes.

The aim of my PhD is to adapt the PBTK model of Threespine Stickleback to BPA and BPS, notably in terms of metabolization, and to link early effect biomarker responses with toxicodynamic building a PBTK-TD model. Expositions to BPA and BPS will be conducted to provide data and finally try to connect individual performances and biomarker responses.

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