BDE-47 induces metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) through CD36-mediated increased fatty acid uptake and PPARα-induced abnormal fatty acid oxidation in BALB/c mice.

The widespread existence of 2,2',4,4'-tetra-bromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in the environment has aroused great concern. BDE-47 induces the occurrence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), but the mechanism has not been fully elucidated. Here, we further investigate the underlying mechanism using BALB/c mice. After BDE-47 exposure, the livers of mice enlarged, the serum levels of ALT, ALP, TG and TC enhanced, and hepatic steatosis occurred. Transcriptome sequencing identifies 2250 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis reveals that down-regulated DEGs are mainly enriched in pathways associated with lipid metabolism, particularly in fatty acid (FA) degradation. And up-regulated DEGs are mainly enriched in pathways related to lipid and FA transport. The expression levels of AhR, Pparγ and Cd36 involved in FA uptake are up-regulated, and those of PPARα and target genes including Cpt1 and Cyp4a1 related to ß and ω-oxidation are inhibited. These results reveal BDE-47 could lead to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) by promoting FA uptake via upregulating Cd36 and hindering oxidative utilization by downregulating PPARα.

Green Photocatalysis of Organic Pollutants by Bimetallic Zn-Zr Metal-Organic Framework Catalyst.

A series of bimetallic Zn-Zr metal-organic frameworks (Zn-Zr MOFs) with different Zn:Zr molar ratios has been synthesized via a green hydrothermal method. The structures and morphologies of these photocatalysts have been characterized and analyzed by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The prepared Zn-Zr MOFs had large specific surface areas and pore volumes, favoring the adsorption of pollutant molecules, which in turn led to an improved photocatalytic effect. The photocatalytic activities of the Zn-Zr MOFs under visible light irradiation have been studied towards rhodamine B (RhB) as a target pollutant. The extent of degradation of RhB in a 40 mg/L aqueous solution reached 97.4%. The optimal photocatalyst could also degrade other dyes, suggesting a certain degree of universality.

Construction of a Keggin heteropolyacid/Ni-MOF catalyst for esterification of fatty acids.

This work reports the one-pot solvothermal synthesis of a Keggin heteropolyacid (phosphomolybdic acid, tungstophosphoric acid, or silicotungstic acid) immobilized on Ni-MOF composite catalysts for esterification of fatty acids, and the composites were further analyzed by XRD, FTIR, NH3-TPD, SEM, TEM, N2 adsorption/desorption, and XPS. Among the contrastive syntheses (i.e., HPW/Ni-MOF, HSiW/Ni-MOF, and HPMo/Ni-MOF), HPMo/Ni-MOF exhibits the most active catalyst toward fatty acids esterification, and the characterization results also revealed that HPMo/Ni-MOF has a strong acidity, large specific surface area, and appropriate average pore size. More significantly, this catalyst exhibits a good catalytic performance (86.1% conversion) during esterification under the optimized reaction conditions, and the HPMo/Ni-MOF catalyst can remain stable after the tenth cycle with a conversion of 73.5%. Intriguingly, the esterification reaction kinetics was studied, and the activation energy was found to be 64.6 kJ mol-1. The results indicated that the esterification of fatty acids using the HPMo/Ni-MOF catalyst is a chemically controlled reaction.