Growing Knowledge of Stem Cells as a Novel Experimental Model in Developmental Toxicological Studies

The increasing production and extensive application of chemicals have led to their unintended release and contamination in the environment, posing a hazardous threat to wildlife and human health. Numerous studies have demonstrated that developmental toxicity could be induced by various emerging chemicals, causing abnormal embryonic and placental development, adverse pregnancy outcomes, obesity, and dysfunction of lipid metabolism in neonates. Given the currently-available experimental technology for developmental toxicological studies, an in vitro model based on stem cells showed promising performance in high-throughput screening of the early-stage developmental toxicity of emerging chemicals. In this review, the deleterious effects of environmental pollutants on stem cells were systemically assorted from the aspects of cytological dysfunction, self-renewal impairment, perturbation in embryoid body(EB) formation, and disruption of committed lineage differentiation. The toxicological data on the molecular level, including the altered expressions of gene and protein biomarkers, epigenomic regulation, and enhanced oxidative stress, were collected and summarized to provide the mechanism explanation for the link between environmental pollutant exposure and unfavorable phenotypes in stem cells. The advantage of the stem cell model in developmental toxicological studies was specifically emphasized. And the perspectives for stem cells were ultimately highlighted in the research field of environmental toxicology, especially developmental toxicology during the early stage of life.