Interaction with functional membrane proteins—A common mechanism of toxicity for lipophilic environmental chemicals?

Abstract 1. 1. The effects of several phenols, anilines and aliphatic alcohols on yeast plasma membrane H + -ATPase and purine transport system as well as on Na + , K + -ATPase and adenosine uptake by Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) were investigated. 2. 2. In all cases an inhibition was observed, which could be correlated with the octanol/water partition coefficients of the substances tested, thus making quantitative structure-activity predictions possible. 3. 3. The observed effects correlated well with the influence of the chemicals on cell growth. 4. 4. The results suggest a common mechanism of toxicity by the action of hydrophobic xenobiotics on biomembranes.