Research Progress in Area 2 方向 ( 二 ) 課題進展 137 Abstract Numerous stressors affect the immune competence of marine mammals, such as the finless porpoise, in nearshore habitats. Among these, mixtures of chemical pollutants have the potential to chronically suppress immune functions. While analytical advances have facilitated the identification of a series of bioaccumulative pollutants in dolphins and porpoises over the past two decades, critical knowledge gaps remain in the combined effect of known and unknown pollutants on these marine mammals and the major toxicity contributors driving the mixture effect. In this project, Dr. Ling Jin’s team proposes to develop species-specific fibroblast cell lines and perform integrated mixture-toxicity modeling to evaluate the temporal evolution of immunotoxic effects of chemical mixtures in these marine mammals and identify the major toxicity contributors driving the trend with their quantitative shares of the mixture effects resolved. Research Activities and Progress • Established a primary fibroblast cell culture from a stranded finless porpoise. • Immortalized the primary cell culture into a cell line for long term use. • Screened a series of chemical toxicants for cytotoxicity in the cell line. • Compared the species-specific sensitivity of fibroblasts to chemical exposure between the finless porpoise and other model species. Key Findings • Indo-Pacific finless porpoise skin fibroblast cell lines were established. • The finless porpoise was more sensitive to certain toxic metal exposure (e.g., Cu(II), MeHg) than other mammals. • There were no significant differences in cell viability between mammals following exposure to certain persistent organic pollutants (e.g., PBDEs, PCBs). • Skin fibroblast cell lines are a powerful tool for assessing the in vitro toxicological mechanisms and pathways of pollutants in cetaceans. Research Output Publication 0 Trained personnel 3 Dissecting the Toxicity Drivers of Pollutant Mixture Effects in Marine Mammals of the South China Coast Using Speciesspecific Cell Lines Dr. Ling Jin The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Fig 1. Workflow of primary cell culturing and immortalization for finless porpoise-specific cell lines
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