Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) such as perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) are persistent environmental contaminants due to their widespread industrial production and chemical inertness. Their mechanisms of toxicity may involve partitioning into lipid bilayers. We investigated the interaction between PFBS and phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipid assemblies (i.e., dimyristoyl-, dipalmitoyl- and distearylphosphatidylcholine) using fluorescence anisotropy and Langmuir monolayer techniques. PFBS decreased the transition temperature and transition width of PC bilayers. The apparent membrane partition coefficients ranged from 4.9 x 102 to 8.2 x 102. These values were independent of PC chain length. In Langmuir monolayer studies the limiting molecular area (LMA) increased and the surface pressure at collapse of the PCs decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. The compressibility of all three PCs was decreased by PFBS. In summary, PFBS disrupted PC monolayers and bilayers, indicating potential for PFBS to be a human toxicant.

Disruption of phosphatidylcholine lipid assemblies by perfluorobutanesulfonate

244th National Meeting (2012)

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