MeX: Metabolism and Xenobiotics

Metabolism and Xenobiotics (MeX)

The “Metabolism and Xenobiotics” team (MeX) gathers scientists with strong skills in the field of metabolic studies, aiming at deciphering the links between specific metabolic pathways and mechanisms of toxicity using in vitro, in vivo and in silico approaches. MeX develops projects directly addressing specific issues related to food toxicology, including low-dose effects (Metabolic and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: MDCs/EDCs) and mixture effects. 

Studies encompass the fate of food contaminants (FC) and their relation with bioactivation/detoxification processes, as well as the FC driven modulation of endogenous metabolism and thyroid metabolism. Approaches developed and implemented by the team range from global untargeted analyses of metabolic changes using computational and bioinformatics methods (metabolomics, genome-scale metabolic networks modeling, data mining) to targeted mechanistic methods (xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes activity assays, …). 

As part of the AlimH division of INRAE, the priority of the team is to develop projects on molecules raising high concerns linked with human exposure and health issues (including predictive toxicology) for which knowledge gaps have been identified.