title: Model and cell membrane partitioning of perfluorooctanesulfonate is independent of the lipid chain length.
abstract: Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a persistent environmental pollutant that may cause adverse health effects in humans and animals by interacting with and disturbing of the normal properties of biological lipid assemblies. To gain further insights into these interactions, we investigated the effect of PFOS potassium salt on dimyristoyl- (DMPC), dipalmitoyl- (DPPC) and distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) model membranes using fluorescence anisotropy measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and on the cell membrane of HL-60 human leukemia cells and freshly isolated rat alveolar macrophages using fluorescence anisotropy measurements. PFOS produced a concentration-dependent decrease of the main phase transition temperature (T(m)) and an increased peak width (DeltaT(w)) in both the fluorescence anisotropy and the DSC experiments, with a rank order DMPC>DPPC>DSPC. PFOS caused a fluidization of the gel phase of all phosphatidylcholines investigated, but had the opposite effect on the liquid-crystalline phase. The apparent partition coefficients of PFOS between the phosphatidylcholine bilayer and the bulk aqueous phase were largely independent of the phosphatidylcholine chain length and ranged from 4.4x10(4) to 8.8x10(4). PFOS also significantly increased the fluidity of membranes of cells. These findings suggest that PFOS readily partitions into lipid assemblies, independent of their composition, and may cause adverse biological effects by altering their fluidity in a manner that depends on the membrane cooperativity and state (e.g., gel versus liquid-crystalline phase) of the lipid assembly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, College of Public Health, Iowa City, IA 52242-5000, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ludewig
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lehmler
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid