Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) and a persistent environmental contaminant found in the tissues of humans and wildlife. Although blood levels of PFOS have begun to decline, health concerns remain because of the long half-life of PFOS in humans. Like other PFAAs, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), PFOS is an activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR) and exhibits hepatocarcinogenic potential in rodents. PFOS is also a developmental toxicant in rodents where, unlike PFOA, its mode of action is independent of PPAR. Wild-type (WT) and PPAR-null (Null) mice were dosed with 0, 3, or 10 mg/kg/day PFOS for 7 days. Animals were euthanized, livers weighed, and liver samples collected for histology and preparation of total RNA. Gene profiling was conducted using Affymetrix 430_2 microarrays. In WT mice, PFOS induced changes that were characteristic of PPAR transactivation including regulation of genes associated with lipid metabolism, peroxisome biogenesis, proteasome activation, and inflammation. PPAR-independent changes were indicated in both WT and Null mice by altered expression of genes related to lipid metabolism, inflammation, and xenobiotic metabolism. Such results are similar to prior studies done with PFOA and are consistent with modest activation of the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and possibly PPAR and/or PPAR/. Unique treatment-related effects were also found in Null mice including altered expression of genes associated with ribosome biogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation and cholesterol biosynthesis. Of interest was up-regulation of Cyp7a1, a gene which is under the control of various transcription regulators. Hence, in addition to its ability to modestly activate PPAR, PFOS induces a variety of off-target effects as well.
Gene Expression Profiling in Wild-Type and PPARα-Null Mice Exposed to Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Reveals PPARα-Independent Effects.
Sex, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesWe characterized gene expression changes in the developing mouse liver at gestational days (GD) 11.5, 12.5, 13.5, 14.5, 16.5, and 19.5 and in the neonate (postnatal day (PND) 7 and 30) using full-genome microarrays and compared these changes to that in the adult liver. The fetal liver, and to a lesser extent the neonatal liver, exhibited dramatic differences in gene expression compared to adults. Canonical pathway analysis of the fetal liver signature demonstrated increases in functions important in cell replication and DNA fidelity whereas most metabolic pathways of intermediary metabolism were suppressed. Comparison of the dataset to a number of previously published datasets revealed 1) a striking similarity between the fetal liver and that of the pancreas in both mice and humans, 2) a nucleated erythrocyte signature in the fetus and 3) suppression of most xenobiotic metabolism genes throughout development, except a number of transporters associated with expression in hematopoietic cells.
Transcriptional ontogeny of the developing liver.
Specimen part
View SamplesCD4+ T cell help is critical for optimal CD8+ T cell expansion after priming in many experimental systems. However, a role for CD4+ T cells in regulating the initial steps of CD8+ T cell effector differentiation is not well established. Here we demonstrate that absence of CD4+ T cells at the time of replication-incompetent adenovirus vector immunization of C57BL/6 mice led to immediate CD8+ T cell dysfunction characteristic of exhaustion at the first detectable timepoints as well as impaired expansion of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. The absence of CD4+ T cell help resulted in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells that had reduced ex vivo cytotoxicity and decreased capacity to produce IFN- and TNF-. CD8+ T cells primed in the absence of CD4+ T cells expressed elevated levels of the inhibitory receptors PD-1, LAG-3, and Tim-3, and these cells exhibited transcriptomic exhaustion profiles by gene set enrichment analysis. This dysfunctional state was imprinted within 3 days of immunization and could not be reversed by provision of CD4+ T cell help after priming. Partial rescue of unhelped CD8+ T cell expansion and effector differentiation could be achieved by PD-1 pathway blockade or recombinant IL-2 administration.
Immediate Dysfunction of Vaccine-Elicited CD8+ T Cells Primed in the Absence of CD4+ T Cells.
Specimen part, Time
View Samples