Short-chain chlorinated paraffins
(SCCPs) have attracted attention
because of their toxicological potential in humans and wildlife at
environmentally relevant doses. However, limited information is available
regarding mechanistic differences across species in terms of the biological
pathways that are impacted by SCCP exposure. Here, a concentration-dependent
reduced human transcriptome (RHT) approach was conducted to evaluate
15 SCCPs in HepG2 cells and compared with our previous results using
a reduced zebrafish transcriptome (RZT) approach in zebrafish embryos
(ZFEs). Generally, SCCPs induced a broader suite of biological pathways
in ZFEs than HepG2 cells, and all of the 15 SCCPs were more potent
in HepG2 cells compared to ZFEs. Despite these general differences,
the transcriptional potency of SCCPs in both model systems showed
a significant linear relationship (p = 0.0017, r
2 = 0.57), and the average ratios of transcriptional
potency for each SCCP in RZT to that in RHT were ∼100,000.
C10H14Cl8 was the most potent SCCP,
while C10H17Cl5 was the least potent
in both ZFEs and HepG2 cells. An adverse outcome pathway network-based
analysis demonstrated model-specific responses, such as xenobiotic
metabolism that may be mediated by different nuclear receptor-mediated
pathways between HepG2 cells (e.g., CAR and AhR activation)
and ZFEs (e.g., PXR activation). Moreover, induced
transcriptional changes in ZFEs associated with pathways and molecular
initiating events (e.g., activation of nicotinic
acetylcholine receptor) suggest that SCCPs may disrupt neural development
processes. The cross-model comparison of concentration-dependent transcriptomics
represents a promising approach to assess and prioritize SCCPs.