Abstract
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been detected in various water bodies and caused harm to aquatic organisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxicity and mechanism associated with autophagy and oxidative stress after exposure to PFOA (0, 1, 10, 100 μg/L) for 12 h on lymphocytes, which was isolated from the head kidney of Carassius auratus (C. auratus). Both of autophagy formation, cell activity, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were measured. The relative expression of partial autophagy-related genes autophagy related 5 (Atg 5), autophagy related 7 (Atg 7), and Beclin 1 were also cloned and detected. Homologous relationships analysis showed high identities of genes in C. auratus and other fish by blast. C. auratus lymphocytes growth inhibition rates was increased induced by PFOA. Compared with the control group, the ROS generation and the MDA content were significantly increased in all of the PFOA-treated group. Besides, decreased SOD activity and decrease of GSH activity induced by PFOA further confirmed the occurrence of oxidative stress. The number of autophagosome formations was increased in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the control group, Atg 7 and Beclin 1 mRNA expression was elevated significantly after PFOA exposed, showing a time-dependent manner, while mRNA expression of Atg 5 was increased remarkably in 100 μg/L PFOA-treated group. Our results indicated that PFOA caused oxidative damage to lymphocytes in C. auratus and caused various autophagy signaling pathway-associated genes imbalances in the lymphocytes. Autophagy signaling pathway-associated genes imbalance could weaken antioxidant capacity and involve in the mechanism of C. auratus lymphocytes oxidative injury caused by PFOA.
Highlights
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), with their unique chemical and thermal stabilities, have been widely used for over 50 years in various industries and consumer product (Giesy and Kannan, 2001; Han and Fang, 2010)
With the increase in the exposure concentration, the expression of autophagy related 7 (Atg 7) showed a down-regulation trend compared with the 1 μg/L perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) exposure group, and the relative gene expression of Beclin 1 in the 10 μg/L PFOA exposure group was 1.4-fold higher than that in the 100 μg/LPFOA treatment group
This study demonstrated that PFOA had an adverse effect on the cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and the autophagy related 5 (Atg 5), Atg 7, and Beclin 1 genes expression in the C. auratus lymphocytes
Summary
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), with their unique chemical and thermal stabilities, have been widely used for over 50 years in various industries and consumer product (Giesy and Kannan, 2001; Han and Fang, 2010). The physico-chemical characteristics of PFCs cause extreme difficulties due to their degradation, thereby converting them into hazardous pollutants that accumulate in biota and water on a global scale (Prevedouros et al, 2006), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one type of PFCs. PFOA is detected in water bodies because of its excellent water solubility and refractory character, especially in parts of China (Niu et al, 2016). PFOA is detected in water and has a significant impact on aquaculture due to its excellent water solubility and refractory character. The kidneys are important immune organs for fish, PFOA accumulation in the kidney is the main mechanism of immunotoxicity in fish and the elimination of PFOA by trout occurs primarily via the renal route (Consoer et al, 2014)
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