Genomics and proteomics in chemical warfare agent research: Recent studies and future applications

Abstract

a b s t r a c tMedical research on the effects of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) has been ongoing for nearly 100 years, yet these agents continue to pose a serious threat to deployed military forces and civilian populations. CWAs are extremely toxic, relatively inexpensive, and easy to produce, making them a legitimate weapon of choice for terrorist organizations. While the mechanisms of action for many CWAs have been known for years, questions about their molecular effects following acute and chronic exposure remain largely unanswered. Global approaches that can pinpoint which cellular pathways are altered in response to CWAs and characterize long-term toxicity have not been widely used. Fortunately, innovations in genomics and proteomics technologies now allow for thousands of genes and proteins to be identified and subsequently quantified in a single experiment. Advanced bioinformatics software can also help decipher large-scale changes observed, leading to mapping of signaling pathways, functional characterization, and identification of potential therapeutic targets. Here we present an overview of how genomics and proteomics technologies have been applied to CWA research and also provide a series of questions focused on how these techniques could further our understanding of CWA toxicity.

An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report: Chemical Inhalational Disasters. Biology of Lung Injury, Development of Novel Therapeutics, and Medical Preparedness

“…This approach has been used in the terminally anesthetized pig model of CG-induced ALI (91). More recently, genomics analysis has identified specific cellular and molecular events that can be targeted by novel therapeutic interventions (92)(93)(94). Using Ingenuity pathway analysis of microarray data, Holmes and colleagues proposed a new putative mechanism of CG injury based on direct free radical attack on neuronal, endothelial, and epithelial cells resulting in tissue destruction and mediator release (95).…”