The goal of the Functional Genomics, Proteomics, and Metabolomics Facility Core (FGPM-FC) is to enable Center affiliates to integrate state-of-the-art genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, proteomics and metabolomics methods into their research in a cost effective manner. It is well established that chemical exposure of biological systems results in expression changes of numerous RNA and protein molecules and these changes are correlated with, and are indicative of toxicity. In addition, many molecular epidemiologic studies have identified correlations between genetic polymorphisms and incidence of environmental-related disease. Toxicological monitoring increasingly involves the assessment of genetic and other molecular measurements derived from individuals and sentinel animals, to detect markers of disease susceptibility and to identify early indicators of chemical effect, such as alterations in gene expression profiles due to exposure to environmental toxicants. Various targeted molecular methods as well as OMICs based approaches have been developed in recent years and continue to develop rapidly. These methods complement each other and allow for mechanistic investigations of entire biological pathways and networks, as well as their individual components. The optimal application of these state-of-the-art methodologies requires considerable expertise in a) sample preparation and processing, b) generation and quality assessment of the data, c) rigorous statistical and bioinformatics analysis, d) as well as interpretation of the complex data sets. Most investigators do not have the financial resources or specialized expertise to keep up with the rapid technological advancements. However, it is critical for investigators to have access to the latest technologies in order to be competitive and to perform cutting edge research. The Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility Core (FGPM-FC) together with the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Unit (BBU) of the Integrative Environmental Health Sciences Facility Core (IEHS-FC) address these challenges. It provides expertise in genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, proteomics and metabolomics based methods that support the study of gene- environment interactions in the context of environmental health sciences research and population-based studies.
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