Polyfluorinated iodine alkanes regulated distinct breast cancer cell progression through binding with estrogen receptor alpha or beta isoforms.

Polyfluorinated iodine alkanes (PFIs) are a kind of emerging chemicals with endocrine disrupting effects. Based on the different binding preferences of PFIs to estrogen receptor alpha and beta isoforms (ER? and ?), two representative PFIs, dodecafluoro-1,6-diiodohexane (PFHxDI) and tridecafluorohexyl iodide (PFHxI), were selected to evaluate their effects on the proliferation of two kinds of breast cancer cells with different ER?/? expression levels, MCF-7 and T47D. The cell viability assay showed PFHxDI could cause higher cellular toxicity than did PFHxI in both MCF-7 and T47D. MCF-7 with relatively higher ER?/? expression ratio was more vulnerable to the cytotoxic treatments of PFHxI and PFHxDI when compared with T47D cells with relatively lower ER?/? expression ratio. EdU incorporation and cell cycle analysis revealed that, similar to 17?-estrodiol (E), non-cytotoxic levels of PFHxDI could significantly promote the proliferation of MCF-7 by increasing cell population at S phase (p?