Latest ArticlesThe detection of amino acid enantiomers holds significant importance in biomedical, chemical, food, and other fields. Traditional chiral recognition methods using fluorescent probes primarily rely on fluorescence intensity changes, which can compromise accuracy and repeatability. In this study, we report a novel fluorescent probe (R)-Z1 that achieves effective enantioselective recognition of chiral amino acids in water by altering emission wavelengths (> 60 nm). This water-soluble probe (R)-Z1 exhibits cyan or yellow-green luminescence upon interaction with amino acid enantiomers, enabling reliable chiral detection of 14 natural amino acids. It also allows for the determination of enantiomeric excess through monitoring changes in luminescent color. Additionally, a logic operation with two inputs and three outputs was constructed based on these optical properties. Notably, amino acid enantiomers were successfully detected via dual-channel analysis at both the food and cellular levels. This study provides a new dynamic luminescence-based tool for the accurate sensing and detection of amino acid enantiomers.
The diagnostic efficacy of contemporary bioimaging technologies remains constrained by inherent limitations of conventional imaging agents, including suboptimal sensitivity, off-target biodistribution, and inherent cytotoxicity. These limitations have catalyzed the development of intelligent stimuli-responsive block copolymers-based bioimaging agents, which was engineered to dynamically respond to endogenous biochemical cues (e.g., pH gradients, redox potential, enzyme activity, hypoxia environment) or exogenous physical triggers (e.g., photoirradiation, thermal gradients, ultrasound (US)/magnetic stimuli). Through spatiotemporally controlled structural transformations, stimuli-responsive block copolymers enable precise contrast targeting, activatable signal amplification, and theranostic integration, thereby substantially enhancing signal-to-noise ratios of bioimaging and diagnostic specificity. Hence, this mini-review systematically examines molecular engineering principles for designing pH-, redox-, enzyme-, light-, thermo-, and US/magnetic-responsive polymers, with emphasis on structure-property relationships governing imaging performance modulation. Furthermore, we critically analyze emerging strategies for optical imaging, US synergies, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Multimodal bioimaging has also been elaborated, which could overcome the inherent trade-offs between resolution, penetration depth, and functional specificity in single-modal approaches. By elucidating mechanistic insights and translational challenges, this mini-review aims to establish a design framework of stimuli-responsive block copolymers-based for high fidelity bioimaging agents and accelerate their clinical translation in precise diagnosis and therapy.
Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a serious disease caused by malignant tumors with high morbidity and mortality. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and antiangiogenic therapy are common treatments for MPE at present. However, traditional chemotherapeutic drugs have many side effects and can easily lead to drug resistance in patients. The complex tumor microenvironment (TME) of MPE directly reduces the antitumor efficacy of immunotherapy. Fortunately, drug delivery systems (DDSs) based on biomaterials have the ability to overcome some of the drawbacks of conventional treatments by improving drug stability, increasing the accuracy of tumor cell targeting, reducing toxic side effects, and remodeling TME, ultimately improving drug efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to provide an overview and discussion of the latest progress in biomaterial-based DDSs for the treatment of MPE. We discuss the application of biomaterials in the treatment of MPE from multiple perspectives, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, combination therapy, and pleurodesis, where microspheres, cell membrane-derived microparticles (MPs), micelles, nanoparticles, and liposomes, are involved. The application of these biomaterials has been proven to have great potential in the treatment of MPE, providing a new idea for follow-up research.
Metal-support interaction (MSI) is crucial for fine-tuning the active-site structure of supported catalysts and enhancing performance. Here, we present an ammonia-directed reactive gas-metal-support interaction (RGMSI), in which NH3 reduces ZnO and assembles an anti-perovskite Ni3ZnN structure with interstitial nitrogen, significantly boosting hydrogenation efficiency. Nitrogen incorporation expands the lattice parameter, increasing the (111) lattice spacing from 2.04 Å in Ni to 2.18 Å in Ni3ZnN, with an extended Ni-Ni interatomic distance from 2.49 Å to 2.65 Å. Additionally, Ni-N coordination shifts the d-band center downward and induces electron deficiency in Ni via charge transfer. These modifications optimize reactant adsorption on the tailored Ni3ZnN structure compared to Ni, leading to a remarkable increase in 1,3-butadiene hydrogenation selectivity from 30.0% to 92.9%, along with an enhanced TOF from 0.067 s−1 to 0.079 s−1. These findings highlight RGMSI as a versatile and effective strategy for designing supported metal catalysts, offering new insights into selective hydrogenation catalysis.
In recent years, development of strategies to treat central nervous system (CNS) diseases has attracted extensive attention. A major obstacle in this field is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which significantly limits the efficient delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain and hinders the treatment of CNS diseases. Overcoming the restrictive nature of the BBB has thus emerged as a key objective in CNS drug development. Nanomaterials have garnered growing interest due to their unique physicochemical properties and potential to traverse the BBB, enabling targeted drug delivery to brain tissue and improving therapeutic efficacy. In this review, we present current insights into the structure and function of the BBB and highlight a range of nanomaterial-based strategies for BBB penetration, including receptor-mediated transport (RMT), adsorptive-mediated transcytosis, reversible BBB disruption, and intranasal administration. Finally, we summarize recent advances in enhancing BBB permeability for CNS therapeutics and discuss persisting challenges, offering perspectives for future research in this field.
Plant bacterial diseases cause significant harm to agricultural production because of their frequent, intermittent and regional outbreaks. Currently, chemical control is still a more effective method for bacterial disease. To develop new, efficient and safe antibacterial agrochemicals, we summarize the research progress of compounds with antibacterial activities in the past ten years, classify them according to their active skeletons, and discuss their structure-activity relationships and mechanisms of action. Finally, the development trend of antibacterial agrochemicals was prospected. This review provides valuable information for the development of antibacterial agrochemicals.
Given the broad applicability of carbazole structural moieties in materials science and medicinal chemistry, significant efforts have been devoted to developing efficient synthetic catalytic methodologies to access this valuable scaffold. Catalyzed direct Csp2–H functionalization provides an effective and cost-efficient approach to synthesizing carbazoles from simple and readily available starting materials, ensuring a promising path characterized by excellent atom and step economy. This review highlights the substantial progress made in the last 10 years in advancing catalytic Csp2–H functionalization techniques for synthesizing carbazoles.
To precisely control intrachain π-electron delocalization and interchain interaction simultaneously is the prerequisite to obtain stable and efficient deep-blue light-emitting p-n polymer semiconductors for the polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs). Herein, we introduced the steric carbazole-fluorene nanogrid into light-emitting diphenyl sulfone-based p-n polymer semiconductors (PG and PDG) via metal-free CN coupling polymerization for the fabrication of deep-blue PLEDs. The steric, rigid and twisted configuration between nanogrid and diphenyl sulfone in PG and PDG present the unique characteristic of large steric hindrance interaction to suppress interchain aggregation in solid state. Due to the different length of electron-deficient diphenyl sulfone monomers, PG showed a deep-blue emission with a maximum peak at 428 nm but red-shifted to 480 nm for the PDG films. Interestingly, similar deep-blue emission behavior of PG in diluted non-polar solution and films suggested the extremely weak interchain aggregation. Finally, PLEDs based on PG are fabricated with a stable deep-blue emission of CIE (0.15, 0.10), and corresponding EL spectral profile is also completely identical to PL ones of diluted solution, revealed the intrachain emission without obvious interchain excited state, confirmed effectiveness of the steric hindrance functionalization of nanogrid in p-n polymer semiconductor for deep-blue light-emitting organic optoelectronics.
Three-dimensional supramolecular organic frameworks with precisely tunable pore sizes are highly demanded for a wide range of applications, e.g., encapsulating enzymes to enhance their stability, activity, and reusability. However, precise control and tune the pore size of such frameworks still remains a significant challenge to date. In this study, we constructed supramolecular polymer frameworks using rigid tetrahedral star polyisocyanides with tunable length and sufficiently narrow distribution as building block. First, a series of tetrahedral four-arm star polyisocyanides with controlled chain lengths and narrow molecular weight distributions was prepared via the Pd(Ⅱ)-catalyzed living isocyanide polymerization. Then 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (Upy) unit was installed onto each chain-end of polyisocyanide arms via post-polymerization functionalization. Leveraging the supramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between the terminal Upy units, well-ordered supramolecular polymer frameworks were readily obtained. Notably, the pore size was dependent on the chain length of the polyisocyanide arms. Precisely control the chain length of polyisocyanide arms, supramolecular polymer frameworks with pore sizes ranging from 5.06 nm to 9.72 nm were achieved. These frameworks, with tunable and large pore apertures, demonstrated exceptional capabilities in encapsulating enzymes of different sizes, such as lipase (TL), horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and glucose oxidase (GOx). The encapsulated enzymes exhibited significantly enhanced catalytic activity and durability. Moreover, the frameworks' tunable and large pore apertures facilitated the co-encapsulation of multiple enzymes, enabling efficient dual-enzyme cascade reactions.
In recent years, different drugs therapies for treatment pulmonary fibrosis (PF) have gained much attention due to development of drug delivery technology and urgent clinical needs. PF treatment existed a variety of currently clinical problem but PF could be treated with different drugs potentially though drug delivery technology. This review systematically expounds its basic theory, various drug delivery technologies, and future development directions. In the introduction, the relationship between the pathological mechanism of PF and drug delivery, the basic principles of the drug delivery system and the biological barriers faced by pulmonary drug delivery are analyzed. This review details delivery of small molecule drug, macromolecular drug and cells, including chemical synthesis and natural small molecule drug delivery, as well as RNA and cell-based delivery. Finally, the challenges and perspectives of these drugs to treat PF delivery technologies are discussed and key aspects in the development of PF drugs are considered. We hoped that this review can provide comprehensive and in-depth theoretical reference and technical support for the drug treatment of PF.
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