Gene expression profiling in the lung and liver of Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) exposed mouse fetuses

Most of the transcriptional changes induced by PFOS in the fetal mouse liver and lung were related to activation of PPARalpha. When compared to the transcript profiles induced by PFOA (Pubmed ID 17681415), few remarkable differences were found other than up-regulation of Cyp3a genes. Because PFOS and PFOA have been shown to differ in their mode of action in the murine neonate, these data suggest that changes related to PFOS-induced neonatal toxicity may not be evident in the fetal transcriptome at term. Thirty timed-pregnant CD-1 mice were orally dosed from gestation day 1-17 with either 0, 5, or 10 mg/kg/day PFOS in 0.5% Tween 20. At term, fetal lung and liver were collected, total RNA prepared, and samples pooled from three fetuses per litter. Five biological replicates consisting of individual litter samples were then evaluated for each treatment group using Affymetrix mouse 430_2 microarrays.