Jamie Liebold

Undergraduate Research in the Neighborhoods

The goal of Jamie’s project was to determine what per- and poly fluoroalkinated substances (PFAS) compounds close gap functions. Since there are over 4,000 different PFAS compounds in our water, food, cookware, soil, and clothing, it is important to determine the health outcomes of continuous exposure. Gap junctions serve as a biomarker for cell signaling issues, one of which being cancer. We found that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorosulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA) and perfluorohexanoicsulfonic acid (PFHxS) all closed gap function communicative pathways. From here, we determined which gap junction proteins were involved in the closure of gap junctions through interactions with the protein kinase A, indicating that compounds such as resveratrol may be helpful for people with a high level of exposure to PFAS. 

Learn more about this and other research in the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility.