disrupting chemical (EDC) - compounds that mimic or counteract the function of endogenous hormones. BPA presence in food and the environment can pose a potential hazard to both humans and wildlife; BPA exposure is suspected to be associated with reproductive and developmental defects and possibly, with chronic diseases. BPA can interact with several nuclear and hormone receptors but its main targets are the two estrogen receptors Esr1 and 2; BPA also interacts with and activate the G protein coupled estrogen receptor Gper. Characteristic of nuclear receptors is the presence of specific functional domains: the N-terminal ligand-independent activation domains AF1, the DNA binding domain (DBD) and the C-terminal ligand binding domain (LBD) that also contains the second, ligand-dependent, activation domain AF2. Estrogen is essential for female sexual development and reproductive functions and also plays important roles in bone and cardiovascular systems as well as brain functions. Estrogen receptors once activated, act as transcription factors whose function is modulated by the interaction with chaperones, coactivators and corepressors. They affect gene expression directly by binding to cognate DNA sites known as Estrogen Response Elements (ERE) or indirectly via interactions with other transcription factors. Estrogen also activates a third receptor - Gper, also known as GPR30, a G protein receptor which together with the fraction of membrane-tethered estrogen receptors can activate growth factor signaling, such as epidermal growth factor and thus, the intracellular pathways they trigger, primarily those mediated by PI3K-Akt and Erk1/2. Studies show rapid activation of Erk1/2 pathway by BPA via Gper in human breast cancer cells. BPA binds to the LBD domain of Esr in a manner similar, but not identical to the endogenous estradiol ligand (click to see PDB entries for human ESR1-LBD in complex with BPA and other bisphenols). BPA is thought to affect various immune responses and may be implicated in the etiology of several diseases that include diabetes and obesity, cardiovascular and kidney, respiratory and cancer as well as developmental, birth defects and reproductive disorders. BPA induced genetic and/or epigenetic alterations can, at least in part, be responsible for the observed effects. In vitro and in vivo animal studies indicate that BPA promotes the formation of DNA adducts, DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations. Environmental BPA removal includes photodegradation, phoelectrocatalysis and biodegradation. Photoelectrocatalysis of BPA in waste water can be efficiently carried out using titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle, in particular its anatase form. TiO2 has a broad spectrum of applications; however, it can also exert cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. Bacterial biodegradation of BPA in soil and water can be carried out by both gram-negative and gram-positive strains but the efficiency varies between strains and is also dependent on environmental factors such as temperature, pH, metal ions and others. To see the ontology report for annotations, Gviewer and download, click here...(less)