Effects of perfluorinated organic compounds in aquatic organisms: a systems biology approach.

PFCs make up a large group of anthropogenic chemicals that have been used for several industrial and commercial purposes since the 1950s. PFCs are a class of organofluorine chemicals characterised by a hydrophobic alkylated chain, saturated with fluorine atoms, that is attached to a hydrophilic functional group. The most common PFCs are perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Many critical reports on the presence of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in environmental samples and organisms worldwide, including human, have been published since the beginning of this millennium. From then onwards, public concern about the effects of these chemicals has raised because human and wildlife exposure has been almost ubiquitous due to their presence in numerous consumer products, food and water. However, the effects on aquatic organisms still remain unclear even though the aquatic environment is an important sink for PFCs. This project focus on the mode of action of PFCs on aquatic organisms on the one hand and on the search for PFC alternatives with lower toxicity to establish their use as more environmental friendly alternatives on the other hand. Adult and embryo zebrafish (Danio rerio) will be used as model species in combination with turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) using transcriptomics, proteomics and biochemical assays. The combination of these techniques at several levels of biological organization will result in an unique and integrated picture of the mechanisms and the potentially harmful impact of these compounds on aquatic organisms.