In a new study, researchers found high levels of ultrashort-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood samples taken from Wilmington, N.C. residents between 2010-2016. Two ultrashort-chain PFAS – perfluoromethoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA) and trifluoracetic acid (TFA) – were detected at high levels in almost every sample. In contrast, GenX – the chemical that jumpstarted public concern about PFAS in the Cape Fear River Basin – was detected in 20% of the samples. The work adds to the body of evidence that short-chain PFAS can accumulate in the human body.

Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, working within the Southern California Superfund Research and Training Program for PFAS Assessment, Remediation and Prevention (ShARP) Center, have uncovered compelling evidence that exposure to perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), a lesser-known member of the PFAS family of “forever chemicals, is linked to a significantly higher risk and severity of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in adolescents with obesity. The study, published in Communications Medicine (Nature Portfolio), integrates clinical data from adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery with advanced 3D liver models to reveal the biological mechanisms by which PFHpA may drive disease progression. The researchers examined blood samples from 137 adolescents enrolled in  Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery, the largest U.S. study of pediatric bariatric surgery. They found that adolescents with twice the amount of PFHpA in their blood faced an 80% greater likelihood of being diagnosed with MASLD compared to their peers with lower levels. Teens with higher exposures also showed more advanced liver injury, including inflammation and fibrosis—early signs of disease progression that can eventually lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, or even liver cancer. To strengthen these findings, the team tested PFAS on laboratory-grown liver spheroids using doses comparable to typical human exposure, showing that PFHpA disrupts critical biological pathways, including inflammation, oxidative stress and lipid metabolism. This dual approach allowed the researchers to connect exposure to mechanism, producing a distinctive molecular signature of PFHpA-related liver damage.

 

In a new study, University of Arizona researchers created a model for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, and identified two mutated tumor proteins, or neoantigens, that contain features of good candidates for a vaccine. At the same time, they used artificial intelligence to create 3D models to help them understand and predict which neoantigens could provoke T cells, a type of white blood cell critical to the immune system, to attack the cancer.