Structure-Activity Relationships and Human Relevance for Perfluoroalkyl Acid-Induced Transcriptional Activation of Peroxisome Proliferation in Liver Cell Cultures
Abstract
Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are widely distributed and environmentally persistent agents whose potential toxicity is not yet fully characterized. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid elicit a number of potential toxicities in rodents, the most prevalent of which are governed by activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha). The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (1) To conduct a structure-activity relationship study of the transcriptional activation of peroxisome proliferation in primary rat liver cell cultures for PFAA-related carboxylic and sulfonic acids of varying carbon chain length and (2) to explore whether this activity can be translated to human liver cells in culture. Exposure to PFOA caused a dose-dependent stimulation of the expression of acyl-CoA oxidase (Acox), Cte/Acot1, and Cyp4a1/11 transcripts that are indicative of peroxisome proliferation in primary rat hepatocytes. PFOA concentrations of 30 microM and above caused cell injury characterized by the expression of Ddit3. Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), on the other hand, stimulated Acox, Cte/Acot1, and Cyp4a1/11 gene expression in primary rat hepatocytes only at concentrations of 100 microM and above. Neither PFOA nor PFBA at concentrations up to 200 microM stimulated PPARalpha-related gene expression in either primary or HepG2 human liver cells. These data demonstrate that (1) PFFAs cause a concentration- and chain length-dependent increase in expression of gene targets related to cell injury and PPARalpha activation in primary rat hepatocytes, (2) the sulfonates are less potent than the corresponding carboxylates in stimulating PPARalpha-related gene expression in rat hepatocytes, and (3) stimulation of PPARalpha-mediated gene transcription is a mechanism that is not shared by human liver cells, adding further substantiation that PPARalpha-dependent liver toxicity in rodents does not extrapolate to assessing human health concerns.
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PPARα-mediated liver toxicity observed in rodents cannot be directly extrapolated to assess human health implications.
“The induction of gene transcriptional profiling by PPARα activation is a mechanism that affects rodent but not human liver cells, reinforcing the notion that PPARα-mediated liver toxicity observed in rodents cannot be directly extrapolated to assess human health implications [35].”
From The EU’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Ban: A Case of Policy over Science (2023) · cites this paper as [35]
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Influential
- Authors
- Bjork, J. A., & Wallace, K. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Venue
- Toxicological Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2009-04-30
- Volume
- 111
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 89-99
- ISSN
- 1096-0929 (ISSN-L)
- 1096-6080
- OpenAlex
- W2125775820
- Cited by
- 137
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 8.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Toxicological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Keywords
- perfluoroalkyl acids, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorobutanoic acid, PPARα, peroxisome proliferation, structure-activity relationship, hepatotoxicity, acyl-CoA oxidase, DDIT3, species differences in toxicity, chain length dependence
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Line, Cells, Cultured, Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Liver, RNA, Structure-Activity Relationship, Transcriptional Activation, DNA Primers, Peroxisome Proliferators, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Hepatocytes, Cytochrome P-450 CYP4A, Acyl-CoA Oxidase, PPAR alpha, Rats
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