Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are known to accumulate in liver and induce hepatotoxicity on experimental animals. Liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) is expressed highly in hepatocytes and binds fatty acids. PFCs may bind with FABP and change their ADME and toxicity profile. In the present study, the binding interaction of 17 structurally diverse PFCs with human L-FABP was investigated to assess their potential disruption effect on fatty acid binding. The binding affinity of twelve perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), as determined by fluorescence displacement assay, increased significantly with their carbon number from 4 to 11, and decreased slightly when the number was over 11. The three perfluorinated sulfonic acids (PFSAs) displayed comparable affinity, but no binding was detected for the two fluorotelomer alcohols. Circular dichroism results showed that PFC binding induced distinctive structural changes of the protein. Molecular docking revealed that the driving forces for the binding of PFCs with FABP were predominantly hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding interactions, and the binding geometry was dependent on both the size and rigidity of the PFCs. Based on the binding constant obtained in this work, the possibility of in vivo competitive displacement of fatty acids from FABP by PFCs was estimated.

No abstract

The continuously growing demand for clean, sustainable power systems for consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and national grid storage is driving the research interest for electrochemical energy storage systems with better safety, lower cost, and higher energy density beyond current Li-ion battery. [1] Among alternative competitors, lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery has been considered as outstanding representative considering its high theoretical capacity (S: 1675 mAh g −1 and Li: 3860 mAh g −1), sustainability of S, and lowest reduction potential of Li (−3.04 V vs SHE). [2] Despite intensive efforts over decades, the Li-S battery still suffers from several detrimental issues associated with both cathode and anode. For S cathode, the diffusion of intermediates lithium polysulfides (LiPS) and sluggish S redox conversion kinetic cause unsatisfactory specific capacity, inferior rate performance, and rapid capacity degradation. [3] For Li anode, the uncontrollable dendrite growth and infinite volume expansion result in safety risk and low Coulombic efficiency (CE). [4] Therefore, it is highly urgent to design the kinetically advanced Li-S battery system with well-designed configuration for both LiPSsuppressed cathode and dendrite-free anode. Hollow carbon sphere nanoreactors with good electrical conductivity, large surface area, and enhanced structural stability have been widely applied as the host for secondary batteries to improve their electrochemical performance. [5] For example, as S cathode, a hollow porphyrin organic framework was designed for long cycling stability Li-S battery resulting from the physical confinement of LiPS. [6] Besides, double-shelled hollow carbon sphere was explored as a free-standing S host for highenergy-density Li-S battery. [7] As for Li anode, encapsulation of Li into the hollow carbon sphere was designed for high stable Li metal anode. [8] However, the shuttle effect and Li dendrite has not substantially been resolved because the physical effect only addresses the surface issue and not the root. To overcome this, integrating bare carbon nanostructures with catalysts, such as The lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery is a preferential option for next-generation energy storage technologies, but the lithium polysulfide shuttling, sluggish redox kinetics, and uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth hamper its commercial viability. Herein, well-dispersed single atom Zn-decorated hollow carbon spheres (Zn 1-HNC) are developed as dual-functional nanoreactors for polysulfides-suppressed sulfur cathodes (Zn 1-HNC-S) and dendrite-free lithium anodes (Zn 1-HNC-Li) simultaneously for high-capacity, high-rate, and long-cycling Li-S batteries with fast redox kinetics. Benefiting from its excellent electronic conductivity, high surface area (370 m 2 g −1), highly-effective active sites and protective carbon shell, the resultant nanoreactor possesses strong physical confinement, chemical anchoring, and exceptional electrocatalysis for polysulfides. Meanwhile, the nanoreactor with excellent lithiophilic ab...