Developmental susceptibility to PFOS toxicity in Drosophila shows genetic variation in toxicodynamics and rescue via enhanced muscle mitochondrial function

Clicks: 1
ID: 325452
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #118 of 122 articles by views in toxicological sciences : an official journal of the society of toxicology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 122 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants causing widespread concern for developmental toxicity in humans. PFAS can cause adverse developmental outcomes, yet factors determining PFAS susceptibility remain poorly understood. Whether PFAS resistance reflects generalized stress tolerance shared with other toxicants has not been explored. To address this, we assayed a panel of Drosophila melanogaster lines with established traits of resistance and susceptibility to methylmercury (MeHg) for developmental toxicity with several PFAS compounds, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX). With larval exposures, PFOS showed the greatest potency, producing failures in both pupariation and eclosion at concentrations as low as 5µM (2.5ppm) in food. PFOS and MeHg resistance profiles across the genotype panel did not correspond, indicating toxicant-specific mechanisms control susceptibility apart from generalized stress tolerance pathways. Accounting for PFOS body burden after exposure, resistant and susceptible lines displayed markedly different developmental outcomes at similar internal concentrations indicating that variation in susceptibility reflects toxicodynamic differences aside from variance in accumulation. Drawing on a prior role for mitochondrial dysfunction in the toxicity of both PFAS and heavy metals, we implemented neural and muscle-specific modulation of mitochondrial function via expression of dPGC-1 and ND1. Increased dPGC-1 or ND1 in muscle, compared to neural tissues, showed enhanced resistance to PFOS across all developmental outcomes. Notably, muscle-targeted overexpression of these mitochondria related genes conferred developmental protection without reducing PFOS accumulation, supporting a toxicodynamic basis of resistance. While PFOS toxicity arises through mechanisms distinct from MeHg, muscle mitochondria serve as a potential physiological nexus influencing developmental toxicity.
Reference Key
openalex_W7203737667 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Lauren E Gregory, Matthew D. Rand
Journal toxicological sciences : an official journal of the society of toxicology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/toxsci/kfag102
URL
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.