Sex-differentiated Neurotoxicity of Metals and other Endocrine Disrupting Compounds
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>> Welcome to this lecture on
sex differentiated mechanisms 0:02 of neurotoxicity, specifically focused on exposure to metals 0:05 and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. 0:09 0:17 The recognition that sex, as a biological variable matters 0:19 in cellular biology, neuroscience, 0:25 and neurotoxicology is unfortunately very recent. 0:27 Over the years many researchers have advocated 0:32 that scientists include females in their studies. 0:35 In fact, multiple review articles have been published 0:40 highlighting that since the 1970's, here specifically 0:43 in pharmacology and physiology, 0:48 studies have increasingly only used male animals 0:50 to the exclusion of females. 0:53 In fact, other reviews overall on the basic scientists indicate 0:56 that even as of 2009, 1:00 most studies did not consider science. 1:02 In neuroscience specifically, studies that focused 1:06 on males outnumber studies that focused 1:09 on both sexes at a 5 to 1 ratio. 1:11 But these demands have been successful in the United States, 1:16 as in 2015 the National Institute of Health demanded 1:20 that all grants addressed sex as a biological variable 1:24 in their experimental plan and statistical methods. 1:28 Historically, females were removed from studies based 1:34 on the suggestion that estrus cyclicity created more 1:38 variability in measured phenotypes. 1:41 However, a recent study by Prendergast et al 1:44 in 2014 supports that overall, 1:47 females are not more variable than male rodents. 1:51 In fact, for many phenotypes males show more variability 1:55 than females. 1:58 Secondly, other variables 2:00 such as group housing add much more phenotypic variability 2:04 to analyses than sex. 2:09 This critical need to include females in clinical 2:15 and basic research, does not mean 2:18 that every phenotype will be sexually differentiated. 2:20 In fact, many will not. 2:23 Nor does it affirm a strict categorical determination 2:26 of sex. 2:30 In fact, sex differentiated phenotypes are determined 2:31 by interactions between chromosomal compliment, 2:35 cellular genetic functions, hormones, epigenetics, 2:39 and developmental environments including toxicant exposures. 2:43 As such, sex differences often occur on a spectrum. 2:48 Further, sex and gender are not the same. 2:52 Gender is culturally determined. 2:56 So rodent studies investigating the role of sex 2:59 in neurotoxicity should use the word sex and not gender. 3:01 Sex differentiation as a spectrum 3:07 of phenotypes is a critical concept for neurotoxicology. 3:12 Because there is no whole pink or blue brain. 3:16 There's no whole male or whole female phenotype. 3:20 Instead, work from a variety 3:24 of labs supports McCarthy's sex differentiated neural 3:26 mosaic model. 3:29 Each brain region has different mechanisms 3:31 to establish a sex differentiated neurophenotype 3:34 at the population level. 3:37 However, any one individual can vary region by region, 3:40 where they fall on that continuum. 3:44 It is important to note 3:48 that a mosaic is not a non-differentiatable blend. 3:50 There is still a measurable continuum 3:55 of sex-differentiated phenotypes in the rodent brain, 3:57 for both cellular, neurochemical, 4:02 and neuro-architectural features. 4:04 Taken together, interactions 4:14 between sex-differentiated neural development, 4:16 early maternal influences, 4:19 and external environmental risk factors 4:21 in cultural perception all play a role in the reality 4:23 that neurobehavioral disorders are some of the most sex-biased 4:28 in their prevalence rates. 4:32 Given the important role the environment and hormones play 4:39 in determining sex-differentiated 4:42 neurophenotypes, it's not surprising xenobiotic exposures, 4:44 particularly endocrine disrupting chemicals, 4:49 have been increasingly implicated 4:51 in the increased incidence rates of neurobehavioral disorders 4:53 with sex-biased prevalence rates. 4:57 There are three key parts to this lecture. 5:04 First, we will discuss relevant features 5:07 of the endocrine system important 5:09 for neurotoxicology studies and give a brief review. 5:11 Secondly, we will discuss metals exposures, 5:16 stress axis disruption, and the consequent sex-differentiated 5:20 cellular and behavioral toxicity. 5:24 And finally, I will give a brief review 5:27 on some region-specific mechanisms 5:30 of sex-differentiated neurodevelopment. 5:32 And how EDC exposure may disrupt early androgens 5:35 that play an organizational role. 5:39 And to begin our discussion of the endocrine system, 5:42 the very origin or the word hormone makes the first point. 5:46 The root of the hormone means to stimulate or to urge on. 5:50 And often hormones act as integrators, modulators, 5:56 or transcription factors to activate 6:01 or enhance cellular pathways. 6:03 Fundamentally, the endocrine system is the body's chemical 6:09 communication system and it helps maintain stasis 6:12 and coordination through change, 6:17 change induced either developmentally 6:20 or environmentally. 6:23 In fact, these dual roles both coordinating developmental life 6:26 history traits, and responding to environmental change, 6:31 have classically been separated into the organizational effects 6:34 of hormones in early development and the activational effects, 6:38 shifts in hormones in adulthood needed to maintain a phenotype. 6:43 Of course, classic dogma 6:46 as often is the case, has many exceptions. 6:49 But overall alterations 6:54 in hormone concentrations help organize and coordinate growth, 6:56 social attachment, sex, secondary sex characteristics, 7:02 and critical windows of learning. 7:07 Furthermore, shifts in hormone activation are controlled 7:15 by negative feedback loops. 7:19 A variety of endocrine systems work on cascades. 7:22 Principally functioning along a hypothalamic, pituitary, 7:27 and distal organ axis. 7:30 For example, 7:32 the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal 7:33 axis, 7:36 the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal 7:37 axis, where signals from the hypothalamus stimulate the 7:39 pituitary to begin secreting systemically 7:43 circulating hormones. 7:48 As these systemic concentrations increase, they each act 7:51 as their own negative feedback, terminating activation 7:55 in the hypothalamic and pituitary messengers. 7:59 Systemic hormones in the blood can occur in three forms. 8:08 Either free, unconjugated and unbound, or bioavailable, 8:12 bound to low affinity carrier proteins such as albumin, 8:17 or inactive as they are bound to high affinity binding proteins 8:21 such as alpha-fetoprotein. 8:26 When consider these forms, circulating levels 8:28 of free hormones in the blood that are active 8:32 at target tissues, occur at extremely low concentrations. 8:34 Furthermore, overall the general function 8:41 of each hormone is well conserved across species. 8:45 Although there are important differences in the details, 8:50 such as the rodent reliance on corticosterone, 8:54 and the primate reliance on cortisol 8:57 as the primary glucocorticoids in the stress axis. 9:00 These key aspects 9:07 of the endocrine system influence neurotoxicology. 9:07 One, the endocrine system communicates 9:12 across a broad range of physiological targets. 9:15 Two, given the low serum concentrations 9:19 of active systemic hormones, 9:22 research has increasingly found low dose 9:24 and non-monotonic dose response effects. 9:26 Three, given the important role of hormones 9:31 in organism development 9:34 and sexually-differentiated development, neurotoxicity 9:36 of [inaudible] compounds is often dependent 9:41 on the critical windows of exposure, 9:44 and effects may be late emerging. 9:47 And finally, given that these systems adapted to respond 9:52 to other environmental stimuli, exposure to compounds 9:56 with endocrine disrupting properties may be modulated 9:59 by other non-xenobiotic environmental stimuli. 10:02 In fact, the concept 10:11 of endocrine disrupting chemicals is fairly recent. 10:12 Many attribute its origin to the Wingspread conference in 1991, 10:14 where Theo Colborn and her colleagues first coined the term 10:19 endocrine disrupting chemical or EDC. 10:23 Given that the endocrine system works on cascades 10:27 and coordinates development and environmental response 10:34 across a variety of target tissues, 10:39 and that an endocrine disrupting chemical is defined 10:42 as any chemical that interferes with hormone activity, 10:47 and that includes production, secretion, transportation, 10:51 metabolism, binding action, and/or the excretion 10:54 of endogenous hormones. 10:58 To me it's not surprising that we've identified 11:00 over 1,000 compounds that have some form 11:02 of endocrine disrupting property. 11:05 Metals, although typically not immediately thought of as EDCs, 11:10 have long been known to disrupt the endocrine system. 11:14 Lead, methylmercury, arsenic, and cadmium have all been shown 11:18 to disrupt serum/glucocorticoid concentrations 11:23 and alter the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal 11:26 axis, the HPA axis. 11:29 This is critically important for neurotoxicology 11:32 because the HPA axis has been shown to interact with 11:35 and support the function of mesocorticolimbic networks 11:39 and alter neurotransmitter concentrations critical 11:42 for appropriate learning and cognitive function. 11:46 But to understand how the HPA axis influences neurotoxicology, 11:50 we first need to take a deeper look 11:54 at the stress response itself. 11:56 For a quick review of the HPA axis and the stress response, 11:59 especially given that the word stress has so many definitions, 12:05 it is important to start by defining stress and stressor. 12:09 Stress, for our purposes will be limited to activation of 12:13 and changes 12:17 to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal 12:18 or HPA axis function. 12:22 Stressors are stimuli, either environmental or physiology 12:25 or both, that activate the HPA axis. 12:30 The stress response is a critical adaptation 12:34 that helps animals internalize and accommodate to changes 12:36 in homeostatic balance. 12:40 It is a generalized response 12:42 that prioritizes short-term mechanisms necessary 12:44 for escaping from or responding to stressors, 12:47 primarily by shunting sugar into the bloodstream. 12:51 But it also shuts down long-term repair mechanisms, 12:55 such as digestion, muscle repair, 12:59 and certain immune functions. 13:01 Taken together, activation 13:06 of the HPA axis provides the metabolic support 13:08 for an organism to preserve homeostasis 13:11 in a variety of circumstances. 13:14 Increasing glucocorticoids help wake organisms 13:17 up in the morning. 13:20 They provide metabolic support for life history events, 13:22 such as the physical demands of late pregnancy. 13:25 And they provide metabolic support for the flight 13:28 or fight response, activated 13:32 if one perhaps was chased by an elephant. 13:35 But despite the adaptive mechanisms of HPA activation 13:40 in providing the metabolic support for behavior, 13:45 chronic stress where an organism constantly feels 13:48 like an elephant is chasing them when there is no elephant 13:53 in the room, leads to disease. 13:55 Given that it shuts down long-term repair mechanisms, 13:58 these diseases are often immune deficiency, muscle wasting, 14:02 gastrointestinal dysfunction, impaired brain function, 14:08 reproductive suppression and growth reduction. 14:12 Taken together, chronic or excessive developmental stress 14:20 and developmental metals exposures, 14:23 share biological targets including the stress response, 14:25 and mesocortiocolimbic neurotransmitter function. 14:29 Importantly, particularly 14:33 in low socioeconomic status communities, 14:35 these developmental risk factors co-occur. 14:38 Metals exposure, including lead, is a particular problem 14:41 for children living in these communities, 14:45 as they typically sustain the highest blood 14:48 lead concentrations. 14:50 Furthermore, resource deprivation, both material 14:52 and social, as well as dangerous neighborhood conditions, 14:55 violence and racism, all make low socioeconomic status 14:59 communities' potential sources for persistent, intense, 15:03 and chronic stressors. 15:07 This shared co-occurrence 15:11 and shared biological targets provides mechanistic support 15:12 for the neurobehavioral shifts induced by lead, stress, 15:17 and the potential for them to interact. 15:21 For the following studies on developmental lead exposure 15:25 and prenatal stress, dams either rats or mice were treated 15:29 with lead water two months prior to breeding through weaning. 15:34 On gestational days 15 through 18, during this critical window 15:38 of glucocorticoid sensitivity, dams were assigned 15:42 to receive either restraint stress or no exposure, 15:45 or no stress exposure. 15:49 Restraint stress lasts for 30 minutes, three times a day. 15:51 For many analyses one pup per liter, per sex, 15:56 per behavioral endpoint was used 16:00 to minimize liter specific effects. 16:01 These breeding and exposure methods indicate 16:06 that developmental lead 16:10 and prenatal stress share a biological target 16:11 in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal 16:15 axis. 16:17 One measurement suggesting or corroborating that hypothesis, 16:18 is that for rats exposed to lead and prenatal stress, both lead, 16:23 stress, and lead plus stress increase serum 16:29 corticosterone levels. 16:33 In addition to the enhanced disruption of the HPA axis 16:36 by developmental lead and prenatal stress, 16:40 metals exposures including methylmercury, arsenic, 16:43 and lead have been shown in combination with stress, 16:46 to disrupt behavioral function in a sex-specific faction. 16:50 This includes behavioral analyses using the 16:54 fixed-interval schedule 16:57 of controlled behavior, the FI schedule. 16:58 The FI schedule encompasses many behavioral domains including 17:03 response inhibition, motivation, attention and temporal learning. 17:07 It is translationally relevant behavioral essay 17:13 because children can be placed 17:15 on the same reward mediated schedule 17:17 to identify correlates associated 17:20 with neurobehavioral disorders in children. 17:22 During the FI schedule, rodents are trained 17:26 to press a lever to receive a reward. 17:30 Following that training, a 60 second interval is imposed. 17:33 That 60 second interval changes the reward schedule such that, 17:39 any lever presses that occurred during the 60 second interval do 17:46 not immediately provide a reward. 17:50 Only lever presses that occur immediately 17:54 after that 60 second interval has passed will provide a reward 17:57 for the rodent. 18:02 This creates a very characteristic rate 18:03 of behavioral responding. 18:08 As the animals begin to learn that responses 18:10 on the lever early on in the interval do not provide any 18:14 reward, they begin to allocate their responding on the lever 18:18 to the end of the interval. 18:22 So characteristically you will see a pause, 18:25 and then you will see the animal begin to respond 18:27 and those response rates will increase 18:31 in frequency towards the end of the interval. 18:32 Then as the next lever press produces a reward, that interval 18:37 and the behavioral paradigm or the behavioral pattern 18:41 of waiting, then beginning to respond at the end 18:44 of the interval begins again. 18:47 The ability of a rodent to learn the FI schedule can be 18:50 quantitated via a variety of different variables. 18:57 But today, we will speak mostly 19:01 about the correct lever response rates. 19:02 For individuals interested 19:11 in understanding behavioral toxicity, 19:12 I always say it's easiest to understand behavior 19:14 if you're able to watch your animals. 19:17 So here is a wonderful example of a female mouse 19:19 that has been trained on the FI schedule. 19:22 You will see that her behavior begins 19:25 with a post-reinforcement pause. 19:28 This video begins approximately 20 seconds 19:31 into the 60 second interval. 19:33 Following her pause, she will begin pressing the lever, 19:35 and as the end of the interval becomes near, 19:39 she will increase her correct lever response rate frequency. 19:42 [ Background Noise ] 19:47 Historically, work in Doctor [inaudible] lab has shown sex 20:33 specific changes in overall correct lever response rates, 20:37 following developmental exposure to lead and prenatal stress. 20:40 Depending on the lead dose, timing of the stress, 20:46 and rodent species, these effects shift slightly. 20:49 But overall, developmental lead and stress have been shown 20:52 to combine to increase correct lever response rates. 20:55 As mentioned, maternal arsenic exposure has also been shown 20:59 in combination with prenatal stress, 21:07 to alter FI performance including correct overall 21:09 response rates. 21:14 However, for arsenic, the effects are a bit different. 21:16 Effects are seen in both males and females. 21:19 However in males, only animals that had both arsenic exposure 21:23 and were exposed to developmental prenatal stress, 21:30 showed any deficits on the FI schedule. 21:32 And those deficits were reductions 21:35 in overall correct lever response rates. 21:39 For females, arsenic, prenatal stress, 21:43 and the arsenic plus prenatal stress group, 21:46 all showed reductions in correct lever response rates 21:49 on the fixed interval schedule. 21:53 Identifying the cellular mechanisms connecting 22:00 alterations in serum hormone concentrations, 22:02 and neurobehavioral toxicity is critically important. 22:05 Epigenetic reprogramming is emerging 22:09 as a clear cellular mechanism of neuro-reprogramming 22:12 across the lifespan following developmental exposures. 22:15 For example, many studies have been conducted in the Meaney 22:20 and Shift labs, investigating how early maternal behavior 22:23 or developmental stress influences the HPA axis 22:27 and alters brain and behavioral development 22:31 through epigenetic reprogramming or NR3C1, 22:34 the glucocorticoid receptor gene. 22:37 Their studies, mostly unspecified sex 22:40 or on male offspring, indicate 22:43 that different maternal behaviors alter both DNA 22:45 methylation and histone acetylation profiles 22:48 across NR3C1. 22:52 Remember classically, reductions in DNA methylation 22:55 and increased histone acetylation represent permissive 22:59 modifications, suggesting increased accessibility 23:02 of the genome. 23:06 To investigate the epigenetic consequences 23:09 of developmental lea, prenatal stress, and the combination, 23:13 we evaluated both methylation and H3K9 acetylation profiles 23:17 across NR3C1 in adult postnatal day 60 mice. 23:22 We processed frontal cortex and hippocampus 23:29 for both males and females. 23:31 For DNA methylation, we measured methylation percentage 23:33 at 10 CPG sites along NR3C1. 23:37 Averaged together, lead had a stronger effect on methylation 23:41 than prenatal stress in our studies. 23:45 Lead reduced methylation percentage in both males 23:48 and females, but the effects were region specific. 23:51 Females showed reductions in methylation percentages 23:55 in hippocampus, while males showed reductions 23:58 in frontal cortex. 24:01 For H3K9 acetylation concentrations, 24:04 42 different sites along NR3C1 were assessed and averaged 24:09 across the entire NR3C1 gene presented here. 24:14 Here again, the effects of developmental lead 24:18 and prenatal stress were sex specific. 24:21 In male hippocampus, our results were similar 24:23 to previous Meaney studies, 24:26 indicating that stress associates with increases 24:27 in H3K9 acetylation along NR3CC1. 24:30 Lead also increased acetylation concentrations 24:35 in male hippocampus. 24:39 However, for females, 24:41 in the hippocampus the opposite effect was observed 24:43 with prenatal stress lowering H3K9 acetylation concentrations. 24:47 This is a critical example demonstrating 24:54 that if sex is not considered, the neurotoxic effects 24:56 of lead would not be recognized. 24:59 By averaging both sex, you would eliminate the influence 25:03 of developmental lead on H3K9 acetylation concentrations. 25:06 Further, there was no effect of lead or stress 25:12 in male frontal cortex but lead increased h3K9 acetylation 25:15 concentration in female frontal cortex, again, 25:19 supporting that the mechanisms of developmental lead 25:22 and prenatal stress are region specific. 25:26 Additionally, the developmental effects of lead 25:35 and prenatal stress on global posttranslational histone 25:37 modifications, both permissive 25:39 and restrictive modifications change across the lifespan 25:42 with effects in female hippocampus showing the most 25:47 dramatic divergence between lead and stress exposed animals 25:50 and controls, late emerging into adulthood. 25:54 In contrast, the most significant lead 26:02 and stress-induced changes 26:05 to global posttranslational histone modifications 26:06 in male hippocampus, occurred shortly 26:09 after birth at postnatal day 6. 26:11 Suggesting alterations following shifts 26:14 in critical sex specific developmental programming. 26:17 In fact, one of the most sex differentiated developmental 26:20 events important for central nervous system development 26:27 in rodents and primates is the perinatal testosterone surge. 26:30 This male specific surge in testosterone occurs prenatally, 26:35 at the end of gestation and peaks just hours after birth. 26:39 This surge in testosterone occurs 26:47 in rats, mice, and humans. 26:49 And studies in rodents have shown 26:53 that if you inject female rodents 26:55 with testosterone during this critical window, her behavior 26:57 in adulthood, particularly sexual behavior will 27:01 be masculinized. 27:04 Interestingly, although this surge 27:07 in serum testosterone peaks hours after birth, 27:10 elevated levels of androgens remain elevated 27:14 in the hippocampus until postnatal day 6 or 8, 27:17 around the same time lead 27:21 and stress exposed males showed significant differences 27:22 in posttranslational histone modifications. 27:26 More work is needed to investigate how metals exposures 27:30 or prenatal stress or both, may influence androgen disruption 27:34 or directly influence epigenetic reprogramming induced 27:38 by the perinatal testosterone surge. 27:45 As discussed, the influence of androgens and testosterone 27:49 in organizing the sexually differentiated central nervous 27:55 system, has been shown to be highly region specific. 27:58 Work by McCarthy's lab in the hypothalamus, 28:02 has eloquently discovered that the sex differentiated phenotype 28:06 of elongated dendritic spines in the preoptic area of rats, 28:11 is originally facilitated by androgen induced reductions 28:17 in DNA methylation profiles in this region. 28:20 This alteration in DNA methylation results 28:25 in permissive access for immune response genes to be expressed. 28:27 It is the expression of these genes and the activation 28:33 of immune cells, such as microglia and astrocytes, 28:36 that results in the elongated dendritic spines 28:40 and the sexually differentiated synaptic patterning 28:46 that we see in the preoptic area. 28:50 Further work from the Forger lab suggests that in the bed nucleus 28:55 of the stria terminalis, histone acetylation plays a key role 29:00 in the sex differentiated phenotype including region 29:04 volume and cell number. 29:08 Histone deacetylase inhibitors block the androgen induced 29:13 shifts in these neurophenotypes. 29:17 Again, this work reemphasizes that the mechanisms 29:20 of sex differentiated neurophenotypes are extremely 29:25 region specific. 29:30 Given the only recent commitment 29:36 to understand sex differentiated development of the rodent brain 29:38 and how these differences may result in unique toxicity 29:42 of EDCs by sex, there is still a lot of work to be done. 29:45 One interesting emerging pattern is that many of the effects 29:49 of early hormone disruption are late emerging. 29:53 One example that we discussed is the late emergence 29:56 into adulthood, of lead and stress induced alterations 29:59 in global histone modifications only in females. 30:03 But another is worked by Ghahramani et al in 2014, 30:09 that showed that the administration of testosterone 30:12 at birth to females resulted in late emerging changes 30:14 in methylation patterns in the hypothalamus, 30:18 but actually more extremely in the striatum. 30:21 The extent of the methylation changes induced 30:24 by early testosterone exposure, had become more evident 30:27 in adulthood when compared 30:31 to methylation changes assessed immediately 30:33 after the administration of testosterone at postnatal day 4. 30:36 Despite increasing evidence 30:42 that the perinatal testosterone surge plays a critical role 30:45 in sex differentiated neurodevelopment, 30:48 is there any evidence that EDCs directly disrupt the perinatal 30:50 testosterone surge? 30:54 What we do know, is based on work from Ear Grey, Howdeshell 30:56 and Ryder labs, on developmental exposure to phthalate mixtures, 31:02 testosterone, and sex differentiated reproductive 31:05 system development. 31:08 These studies have demonstrated enhanced male reproductive 31:09 dysfunction following developmental exposures 31:13 to combinations of anti-androgens. 31:17 These effects occur even 31:20 when single exposures show no phenotypic change, 31:23 and when single exposures act via different direct molecular 31:29 mechanism and are administered at subthreshold doses. 31:34 These enhanced effects of phthalate mixtures 31:39 on male specific reproductive development 31:44 and androgen production, leave open questions 31:47 about what's happening following exposure 31:52 to endocrine disrupting chemical mixtures 31:55 and the sex-differentiated development 31:57 of the nervous system. 31:59 and to begin addressing some of these questions, 32:02 studies from my lab have exposed pregnant mice to a mixture 32:05 of endocrine disrupting chemicals known 32:12 to target the central nervous system and behavior. 32:14 Again here, we see sex specific alterations 32:19 in developmental endocrine disrupting chemical mixture 32:23 exposure, where the mixture shows significant effects 32:25 where the single compounds did not. 32:29 Some of the behavioral alterations we saw 32:33 in only male mice included social conditioned place 32:35 preference, where mix exposed males seemed to prefer to be 32:39 in isolation rather than to be in a social condition. 32:42 Whereas females both showed a preference for sociality. 32:46 And again, on the FI schedule 32:49 where we saw male specific increase 32:52 in correct lever response rates. 32:54 These behavioral data left us wondering 33:01 if developmental exposure 33:03 to this endocrine disrupting chemical mixture was partially 33:05 mediated by sex specific disruption 33:08 of the perinatal testosterone surge. 33:12 And sure enough, measuring serum testosterone concentration just 33:14 hours after birth in males and females, 33:18 from the same dams exposed to these EDCs, 33:21 showed that male mice had elevated serum testosterone 33:24 concentration while females showed no change. 33:28 More research is needed to begin to uncover how mixtures 33:35 or single exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals including 33:41 metals, disrupts maternal environments 33:45 in hormone signaling and how those changes 33:48 in early maternal environments shift the developmental 33:53 trajectory in a sex-biased direction. 33:56 For example, if endocrine disrupting mixtures disrupt this 34:04 early surge in testosterone experienced by male fetuses, 34:08 and that disruption of testosterone is associated 34:12 with alterations in methylation profiles, how can we then begin 34:17 to connect shifts in key developmental programming, 34:24 alterations across the lifespan that sort 34:30 of helped provide a physiological or epigenetic echo 34:33 that could then change the nervous system into adulthood, 34:38 and could help us begin 34:41 to understand the sex differentiated origins 34:42 of neurobehavioral disorders. 34:45 And furthermore, variations and fluctuations 34:47 in hormone concentrations across the lifespan between males 34:51 and females, are categorically different. 34:54 So how can we begin to understand some 34:58 of these patterns of hormone fluctuations 35:00 in early development and then in late adulthood, 35:05 that might provide different critical windows 35:07 of susceptibility for male fetuses than females. 35:10 To fully understand how differences 35:20 in early sex differentiated endocrine profiles may modulate 35:21 the toxicity of EDCs including metals, 35:25 we need to integrate cellular mechanisms 35:29 with functional outcomes. 35:31 This is a perspective highlighted 35:33 by Kembra Howdeshell, 35:35 to understand the role endocrine disrupting compounds play 35:36 in reproductive disease. 35:40 And the same perspective has relevance for neurotoxicology. 35:42 This integrative approach is reflected in one 35:46 of my favorite quotes from George Bartholomew, 35:52 the integrative physiologist. 35:54 Every scale in biology receives its mechanism 35:56 from the scale below and its significance 36:00 from the scale above. 36:03 Neurotoxicology has a great and exciting challenge and that is 36:07 to help us integrate how diverse cellular mechanisms 36:12 of toxicity are integrated into organismal functional outcomes 36:18 that can help us understand and predict disease. 36:23 For additional information, here are the resources 36:26 and references used to develop this lecture. 36:30 If you're interested in any of these topics further, 36:34 feel free to contact me and thank you for joining. 36:36