System toxicological approaches to define and predict thetoxicityofPerand Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

1: Study the toxicity of a large collection of volatile and non-volatile PFASs and PFAS mixtures with the zebrafish assay. Hypothesis: PFAS compounds with similar structures will bind to the same biomolecular targets, induce expression of the same or highly overlapping gene sets, and induce similar toxic responses. 2: Conduct developmental immunotoxicity (DIT) studies in mice. Hypotheses: Developmental exposure to PFASs will compromise antigen-specific antibody responses (a measure of adaptive immunity) and natural killer cell cytotoxicity (a measure of innate immunity). Developmental findings in the mouse will accord with developmental findings in the zebrafish. 3: Create pharmacokinetic models that can explain and predict the concentrations of PFASs in the organs of mice and adult zebrafish as a function of exposure dose and chemical structure. Hypotheses: The bioaccumulation and internal distribution of PFASs depend on passive diffusion, transporter-mediated membrane uptake and efflux, and protein binding. The interaction of PFASs with proteins and membranes will depend on i) the presence of polar or charged functional groups and on ii) the length of the linear fluorinated alkyl chain.