Award
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 7R21ES033758-02
Shifting paradigms to emerging toxins in freshwater cyanobacterial blooms
Recipient
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
Award Amount
$197,381.00
Ceiling
$197,381.00
Awarded
August 31, 2023
Identifier
7R21ES033758-02
Research project funded to study emerging toxins in freshwater cyanobacterial blooms, focusing on identifying new toxins and their liver toxicity to inform public health efforts.
Description
The proposed research is relevant to public health because the range and impact of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) in freshwater systems is expected to increase as the climate changes, which will potentially exacerbate its role as a vector for human exposures and hepatotoxic events. This work will define new emerging toxins from cyanoHABs and their toxicology with respect to the liver. Preliminary results indicate the presence of highly potent cytotoxins in environmental cyanobacterial biomass, including novel compounds more potent than microcystin-LR. The project aims to identify and characterize these emerging toxins using metabolomics, microbial analysis, and structure elucidation, and to assess their toxicity mechanisms through in silico, in vitro, and proteomic studies.