Looking for Protein Expression Signatures in European Eel Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells after in Vivo Exposure to Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and a Real World Field Study

The decline of European eel population can be attributed to many factors such as pollution by xenobiotics. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a compound of a particular concern in Europe. This study aimed at evaluating the toxicological effects of PFOS in eel peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) at the protein expression level. To identify proteins whose expression was modified by PFOS, we performed a proteomic analysis on the post-nuclear fraction of PBMC after a chronic exposure of yellow eels to 0, 1 or 10 μg/L PFOS. This in vivo study was completed by a proteomic field study on eels sampled in Belgian rivers presenting different PFOS pollution degrees. On the 28 spots that were significantly affected by PFOS in the in vivo experiment, a total of 17 different proteins were identified. In the field experiment, 18 significantly affected spots conducted to the identification of 16 different proteins. Interestingly, three proteins were found in common between these experiments. Comparing the results with a previous study, plastin-2 and alpha-enolase were also been found to be affected after in vitro exposure of PBMC. Potential use of these proteins as biomarkers of PFOS exposure in eel could indicate early warning signals.