In vitro Effects of Perfluoroalkyl Substances Derived from Food Packaging and Water Contamination on Renal Epithelial Cells

PFOA is a known disruption of kidney function however the exact pathways in which this toxic forever chemical induces kidney dysfunction remains elusive. C604 is pfoas shorter chain derivative. In this study, human kidney epithelial cells (HK2) were exposed to different concentrations of pfoa and c604 separately for both 7 and 10days. Through a series of experiments including gene expression experiments and experiments to test oxidative stress and cell viability, the effects of these chemicals were determined. Precisely, the effect of these chemicals on cell membrane proteins such as ecadherin, on cytoskeleton proteins such as alpha smactin and on transcription factors such as snail1 and zeb and twist were observed. Portraying a potential of these chemicals to form an epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the cells.