title: Integrating mitochondriomics in children's environmental health.
abstract: The amount of scientific research linking environmental exposures and childhood health outcomes continues to grow; yet few studies have teased out the mechanisms involved in environmentally-induced diseases. Cells can respond to environmental stressors in many ways: inducing oxidative stress/inflammation, changes in energy production and epigenetic alterations. Mitochondria, tiny organelles that each retains their own DNA, are exquisitely sensitive to environmental insults and are thought to be central players in these pathways. While it is intuitive that mitochondria play an important role in disease processes, given that every cell of our body is dependent on energy metabolism, it is less clear how environmental exposures impact mitochondrial mechanisms that may lead to enhanced risk of disease. Many of the effects of the environment are initiated in utero and integrating mitochondriomics into children's environmental health studies is a critical priority. This review will highlight (i) the importance of exploring environmental mitochondriomics in children's environmental health, (ii) why environmental mitochondriomics is well suited to biomarker development in this context, and (iii) how molecular and epigenetic changes in mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) may reflect exposures linked to childhood health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Kravis Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Brunst
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Laboratory of Environmental Epigenetics, Exposure Epidemiology and Risk Program, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Baccarelli
authors.affiliation: Kravis Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.|Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1428 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Rosalind J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D004249:DNA Damage; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004785:Environmental Pollutants
keywords: asthma; biomarkers; children; copy number; environmental exposure; environmental health; mitochondria; neurodevelopment