Research Council FORMAS grants 3 million SEK to Pauliina Damdimopoulou for a single-cell study on mechanisms of ovarian toxicity
Female reproductive toxicity has long been recognized as a research area with many knowledge gaps, and current regulatory toxicology methods have limited possibilities to detect disruption of ovarian function by chemical exposures.
Ovaries are heterogeneous organs under constant change, which makes detection of chemically induced changes difficult. In the FORMAS-funded project, Damdimopoulou will apply single cell RNA sequencing technologies to map changes in ovarian cell populations and gene expression profiles upon exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in vitro using human ovarian tissue culture.
The three-year project, which is based on collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital, is expected to give mechanistic information on chemical disruption of human ovaries that can be used to improve regulatory guideline assays for reproductive toxicity.