Looking Inside the Cell for Mechanisms of Immunotoxicity: Experimental Design and Approaches Aimed Toward Elucidation of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlor- dibenzo-p-dioxin-mediated B Cell Dysfunction

One of the major focuses and perhaps the greatest challenges during the past decade in the discipline of immunotoxicology has been the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms responsible for immunotoxicity by specific agents. Much is currently understood about the basic underlying intracellular processes that control leukocyte effector function. This fundamental information in cell biology can now be applied toward developing systematic approaches, through the application of cell and molecular biology techniques, to identify the intracellular targets and processes disrupted by immunotoxicants. The objective of this paper is two fold. First to discuss fundamental principles of experimental design aimed at elucidation of cellular mechanisms in immunotoxicology; and second to discuss the application of molecular biology techniques in characterizing the mechanism of TCDD-induced B cell dysfunction as a working example.