Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one prominent representative chemical of perfluorochemicals (PFC), which have been utilized in surfactants, coating on fabrics, upholstery and carpets, paper products used for food preservation, fire-fighting foams and pesticides. PFOA was found in liver tissue in top predators, polar bears, and even in the cord serum of newborns in many countries.  Laboratory studies have reported the developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity and carcinogenicity of PFOA in rodents both <i>in vivo </i>and <i>in vitro</i>.  At cellular, molecular and gene levels, PFOA was found to cause peroxisomal proliferation, change of membrane surface potential, mitochondrial dysfunction, and even suppression of gene expression. Recently, the binding mechanism of small molecules to DNA has been a subject of great interest. In light of the biological importance of DNA, much work has been done to pursue an atomic level understanding of recognition, binding specificity and structural alterations associated with binding mechanism of drug molecules to DNA. In fact, not only drugs but also environmental pollutants or toxins can interact with DNA. So the involvement of chemicals is likely to affect the activity of the biomacromolecule, either enhancing it with potential medical significance or inhibiting it if it is associated with an organic contaminant or toxin. In this study, the interaction of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) with DNA bases has been investigated by the BLYP density functional theory with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The DNA bases contains cytosine, thymine, adenine,and guanine. The hydrogen bonded complexes were fully optimized and the binding energies of these complexes were predicted. The calculated result shows the interaction mainly derived from the hydrogen bond of fluorine atoms of perfluorooctanoic acid with hydrogen atoms of  DNA bases.

Hydrogen-bonded Interaction of perfluorooctanoic acid with DNA

249th National Meeting (2015)

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