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Herein, a series of supramolecular self-assembled perylene diimide (PDI) nanomaterials by different solvents have been successfully prepared. Under visible-light irradiation, the self-assembled PDI supramolecular material pretreated by acetone (PDI (acetone)) exhibited superior photocatalytic degradation activity on bisphenol A (BPA) and Rhodamine B (RhB), which were 7.1 times and 4.2 times that of the monomeric PDI, respectively. The improved photo-degradation activity was mainly attributed to the rapid separation and transfer of the photogenerated carriers and π–π interaction between self-assembled PDI supramolecules. The analysis of free radical trapping experiments and ESR characterization together indicated that h+ and ˙O2− are the main active species to rapidly degrade pollutants. Meanwhile, this work also studied the influence of other solvents (e.g., deionized water, methanol, and ethanol) on the self-assembly process of monomeric PDI. In summary, this study provides a new strategy to develop highly efficient self-assembled PDI photocatalysts by different solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastics are indispensable in modern society, but are non-sustainable resources, releasing hazardous chemicals during their service life, and post-disposal issues make traditional plastics a risk. Herein, we report a "digestible", rigid-and-flexible, bio-sourced building block for high-performance degradable plastics. This building block was synthesized from the bioresources vanillin (lignin derivative) and glycerol through solvent-free acetalization with a high conversion rate and high selectivity. It could be extremely rapidly degraded into non-toxic vanillin and glycerol under mild acidic conditions even at a similar pH and temperature to gastric juice in the human stomach ("digested"), resulting in the outstanding chemical degradability of its corresponding epoxy thermosets, which is beneficial for their recycling. By virtue of the benzene ring, heterocycle, and methoxyl group-related hydrogen bond, the degradable thermosetting plastic showed much higher mechanical properties (stronger and tougher) and comparable thermal properties relative to a commercial high-performance counterpart based on bisphenol A (BPA). This favorable performance combination has never been reported for plastics. Thus, this bio-derived building block exhibits great potential as a sustainable and upgraded alternative to petroleum-sourced aromatic chemicals such as BPA for high-performance plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bisphenol A (BPA) has a number of adverse effects on the reproductive development of females. In particular, the mechanism of disruption of ovarian development in adolescent mice is still unclear. Based on transcriptome sequencing results, a differentially expressed lncRNA, Fhad1os2 , was detected in the ovaries of BPA-exposed pubertal mice. In our study, the lncRNA Fhad1os2 , localized in the ovarian granulosa cell cytoplasm, could regulate the proliferation of mouse ovarian granulosa cells. Mechanistically, the results of RNA pull-down experiments as well as mass spectrometry analysis showed that ERα, an interfering signaling molecule of BPA, could directly bind lncRNA Fhad1os2 and decrease the transcription of lncRNA Fhad1os2 in response to the estrogen-like effect of BPA. BPA exposure also caused abnormal lncRNA Fhad1os2 pulldown protein-related signaling pathways in the ovaries of adolescent mice. Furthermore, lncRNA Fhad1os2 interacted with RUNX3, a transcription factor related to follicle development and hormone synthesis. As a negative regulator, lncRNA Fhad1os2 transactivated the expression of Runx3 , which in turn induced RUNX3 to positively regulate aromatase (Cyp19a1) expression in mouse ovarian granulosa cells and promote estrogen synthesis. In conclusion, our study indicates that BPA exposure interferes with ERα-regulated lncRNA Fhad1os2 interactions with RUNX3 in pubertal mice, affecting estrogen synthesis in mouse granulosa cells and contributing to premature ovarian maturation in pubertal mice. [Display omitted] • LncRNA Fhad1os2 regulates the proliferation of mouse ovarian granulosa cells. • ERα directly binds lncRNA Fhad1os2 and decreases the transcription of lncRNA Fhad1os2 in response to the estrogen-like effect of BPA. • BPA exposure interferes with ERα-regulated lncRNA Fhad1os2 interactions with RUNX3 in adolescent mouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenolic compounds are common industrial pollutants that seriously endangers water ecology and human health. Therefore, the development of efficient and recyclable adsorbents is of importance for wastewater treatment. In this research, HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 composites were constructed using co-precipitation way by loading magnetic Fe 3 O 4 particles onto hydroxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), showing excellent adsorption capacity for Bisphenol A (BPA) and p -chlorophenol (p -CP), and excellent catalytic ability of activating potassium persulphate (KPS) for degradation of BPA and p -CP. The adsorption capacity and catalytic degradation potential were evaluated for the removal of BPA and p -CP from solutions. The results showed that the adsorption took only 1 h to reach equilibrium and HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 had maximum adsorption capacities of 113 mg g−1 for BPA and 41.6 mg g−1 for p -CP at 303 K, respectively. The adsorption of BPA fitted well using the Langmuir, Temkin and Freundlich models while the adsorption of p -CP fitted well using the Freundlich and Temkin models. BPA adsorption on HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 was dominated by π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding forces. The adsorption included both the mono-molecular layer adsorption on the adsorbent surface and the multi-molecular layer adsorption on the non-uniform surface. The adsorption of p -CP on HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 was a multi-molecular layer adsorption on a dissimilar surface. The adsorption was controlled by forces such as π-π stacking, hydrogen bonding, partition effect and molecular sieve effect. Moreover, KPS was added to the adsorption system to initiate a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalytic degradation. Over a wide pH range (4–10), 90% of the aqueous BPA solution and 88% of the p -CP solution were degraded in 3 and 2 h, respectively. After three adsorption-regeneration or degradation cycles, the removal of BPA and p -CP remained up to 88% and 66%, indicating that HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 composite is cost-effective, stable and highly efficient to remove BPA and p -CP from solution. • One composite (HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4) with facile synthesis was characterized. • The adsorption property is performed about HCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 toward BPA and p -CP. • The composite can effectively activate persulfate to degrade BPA and p -CP. • Mechanisms of adsorption and degradation were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may pose a great hazard to wildlife and humans, owing to their ubiquitous presence in the environment and potential bioaccumulation ability. We investigated the bioaccumulation, metabolism, and human health risks of six phenolic EDCs, including bisphenol A (BPA), 4- tert -octylphenol (4- t -OP), 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), estrone (E1), 17 β -estradiol (E2), and 17 α -ethinylestradiol (EE2), in wild fish from the Pearl River system, South China. Except EE2, the other five EDCs were detected in at least one of the four fish tissues (bile, liver, plasma, and muscle). The concentrations of BPA and 4-NP were greater than those of 4- t -OP, E1, and E2 in all tissues. The median values of log bioaccumulation factors for EDCs at the range of 3.86–4.52 in bile, 2.06–3.16 in liver, 2.69–3.87 in plasma, and 1.34–2.30 in muscle, indicating a higher bioaccumulation potential in fish bile than in other tissues. Greater levels of glucuronide/sulfate conjugated EDCs were found in fish bile and liver than in the plasma and muscle, suggesting that the liver and bile played an important role in the metabolism and excretion of phenolic EDCs in fish. The calculated hazard quotient values were below 1 for each compound, implying low risk to human health by intake of edible fish. Image 1 • Higher levels of BPA and 4-NP were found than 4- t -OP, E1 and E2 in the four fish tissues. • Fish bile displayed greater bioaccumulation ability for the phenolic EDCs than liver, plasma and muscle. • Liver and bile played a significant role in metabolism and excretion of the phenolic EDCs in fish. • Consumption of edible wild fish muscle might not cause considerable risk to human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) in humans may promote ovarian cancer development. In present study, the mechanisms by which BPA mediates the aggression metastatic behavior of ovarian cancer were investigated in vitro/in vivo. The results showed that BPA (10 μM) significantly promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of human ovarian cancer cells (ES-2 and OVCAR-3 cells); moreover, it promoted ES-2 and OVCAR-3 cell glucose uptake, lactic acid release and intracellular ATP synthesis. After administration of 5 μg/kg/day BPA, tumor volume was increased compared with that in control group. KEGG and GO enrichment analyses showed that the genes from ES-2 cell in 10 μM BPA-treated group were enriched mainly in central carbon metabolism and PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Then, qRT‒PCR and western blotting results showed that BPA (10 μM) increased the mRNA and protein expression levels of glycolysis-related genes and mTOR, p-AKT HIF-1α and ERα in vitro/vivo ; whereas this effect was reduced after treatment with the ERα inhibitor methyl-piperidino-pyrazole. Furthermore, coimmunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry showed that BPA promoted the direct interaction of ERα with lactate dehydrogenase A. These results show that BPA directly promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells through the ERα/AKT/mTOR/HIF-1α signaling axis to enhance glycolysis. • BPA promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of human ovarian cancer cells. • BPA promoted glucose uptake, lactic acid release and ATP synthesis in tumor cells. • Glycolysis was promoted by the ERα/AKT/mTOR/HIF-1α signaling axis after BPA exposure. • BPA facilitated the interaction between ERα and LDHA in ovarian cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular imprinted TiO 2 /graphene photocatalyst (MIP-TiO 2 /GR) was successfully prepared with bisphenol A (BPA) as the template molecule (target pollutant) and o-phenylenediamine (OPDA) as functional monomers by the surface molecular imprinting method. The combination between BPA and OPDA led to the formation of the precursor, and the subsequent polymerization of OPDA initiated by ultraviolet radiation can ensure the realization of MIP-TiO 2 /GR. The samples were characterized by SEM, EDS, XRD, BET, UV–vis DRS and Zeta potential. In addition, adsorption capacities, adsorption selectivity and visible light photocatalytic performances of MIP-TiO 2 /GR and non-imprinted TiO 2 /graphene (NIP-TiO 2 /GR) were evaluated. Moreover, the effects of pH and initial BPA concentration on removal efficiency of BPA were also investigated. The results showed that MIP-TiO 2 /GR exhibited better adsorption capacity and adsorption selectivity towards the template molecule compared to NIP-TiO 2 /GR due to the imprinted cavities on the surface of MIP-TiO 2 /GR. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of MIP-TiO 2 /GR toward the target molecules was stronger than that of NIP-TiO 2 /GR as a result of large adsorption capacity to target molecules and narrow band gap energy on MIP-TiO 2 /GR. Therefore, modifying the photocatalyst by the surface molecular imprinting is a promising method to improve the molecule recognition and photocatalytic efficiency of photocatalyst for target pollutant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocatalytic nanofiltration (NF) membranes incorporated with enzymes show high capacity for micropollutants (MPs) removal. However, there remains significant challenges such as the lack of molecular-level tailoring for skin layer design and effective strategy for enzyme immobilization. In this work, layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly based biocatalytic NF membranes were fabricated for bisphenol (BPA) removal by immobilizing laccase into the skin layer during the LBL polyelectrolytes assembly with controlled crosslinking and immobilization. This strategy enables simultaneous enzyme immobilization and NF skin layer formation. Three laccase immobilization strategies (i.e. , post immobilization, post crosslinking, and post crosslinking and immobilization) on skin layer were explored to prepare NF membrane for evaluating BPA removal efficiency. The post immobilization was identified as the optimal strategy, which endowed the biocatalytic NF membrane with a pure water permeability of 10.9 ± 0.4 LMH/bar and MgCl 2 rejection of 97.2 ± 0.3% under 2 bar pressure, alongside competitive laccase loading (238.8 ± 3.5 μg/cm2) and laccase activity (0.6 U/cm2). The optimal biocatalytic NF membrane exhibited an improvement in BPA removal of 79.5% under an incubation mode and 92.5% under a full recycling mode. The removal efficiencies were ~240% higher than that of the unmodified LBL membrane and clearly comparable to other reported biocatalytic membranes. This performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of membrane rejection, adsorption and laccase catalysis. The optimal biocatalytic NF membrane was found to be robust after six cycles within 14 days, while maintaining a relatively high BPA removal efficiency and salt rejection. Overall, our results open up a new avenue for enzyme immobilization into the skin layer of membranes for designing high-efficient biocatalytic NF membranes for MPs removal. Image 1 • Laccase-decorated LBL skin layer is prepared on lumen side of hollow fiber membrane. • Effects of different laccase immobilization strategies on BPA removal are explored. • Post immobilization strategy endows the membrane with a competitive NF performance. • Desired BPA removal efficiency is achieved with optimal biocatalytic membrane. • The long-term reusability and stability for BPA removal are confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It is a novel report on the effects of BPA on ovarian development in adolescent mice. • 4266 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the ovary of adolescent mice due to BPA exposure were identified by RNA-Seq. • BPA exposure has far-reaching effects on ovarian development in adolescent mice. Many human epidemiology and animal model studies have reported that bisphenol A (BPA) exerts adverse effects on reproduction through different regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathways in adults. In recent years, the exposure risk has increased for the general population, and little is known about how BPA affects ovarian development in adolescent animals and humans. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of BPA exposure on ovarian development and the transcriptome in adolescent mice. Four-week-old ICR female mice were randomly divided into two groups and orally administered BPA (200 ng/kg/day) by gavage for 4 weeks. The BPA and estrogen (E2) levels in sera from the two groups were subsequently determined by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). An immunohistochemical study showed that several obvious ovarian structural and developmental abnormalities were observed in the treatment group with changes in the E2 receptor gene and protein expression levels. A total of 4266 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and the possible functions of these DEGs were explored by bioinformatics analyses based on the RNA-Seq data. The two most significant expression profiles were identified by Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM) software, and the genes in these two profiles were enriched in actin filament-based processes, behaviour and membrane potential regulation according to Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. Furthermore, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that these DEGs are particularly involved in the endocrine system, the calcium and cAMP signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]