Standalone real-time health monitoring patch based on a stretchable organic optoelectronic system.

Skin-like health care patches (SHPs) are next-generation health care gadgets that will enable seamless monitoring of biological signals in daily life. Skin-conformable sensors and a stretchable display are critical for the development of standalone SHPs that provide real-time information while alleviating privacy concerns related to wireless data transmission. However, the production of stretchable wearable displays with sufficient pixels to display this information remains challenging.

Molecular Orientation Control of Liquid Crystal Organic Semiconductor for High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors.

The control of molecular orientation and ordering of liquid crystal (LC) organic semiconductor (OSC) for high-performance and thermally stable organic thin-film transistors is investigated. A liquid crystalline molecule, 2-(4-dodecyl thiophenyl)[1]dibenzothiopheno[6,5-:6',5'-]-thieno[3,2-]thiophene (C12-Th-DBTTT) is synthesized, showing the highly ordered smectic X (SmX) phase, demonstrating molecular reorganization via thermal annealing. The resulting thermally evaporated polycrystalline film and solution-sheared thin film show high charge carrier mobilities of 9.

A simple modular aptasensor platform utilizing cucurbit[7]uril and a ferrocene derivative as an ultrastable supramolecular linker.

A simple modular aptamer-based sensor (aptasensor) platform was prepared by combining the merits of the rapid and efficient preparation of a self-assembled monolayer of cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7] SAM) and the strong and specific binding affinity of CB[7] to ferrocenemethylammonium (FA), as an ultrastable supramolecular linker, to immobilize aptamers on CB[7] SAM.

Temperature-triggered tumor-specific delivery of anticancer agents by cRGD-conjugated thermosensitive liposomes.

One of the most effective methods to treat cancer is the specific delivery of anticancer drugs to the target site. To achieve this goal, we designed an anticancer drug with mild hyperthermia-mediated triggering and tumor-specific delivery. To enhance the thermosensitive drug release, we incorporated elastin-like polypeptide (ELP), which is known to be a thermally responsive phase transition peptide into the dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)-based liposome surface.

Theranostic systems assembled in situ on demand by host-guest chemistry.

Theranostic systems have been explored extensively for a diagnostic therapy in the forms of polymer conjugates, implantable devices, and inorganic nanoparticles. In this work, we report theranostic systems in situ assembled by host-guest chemistry responding to a request. As a model theranostic system on demand, cucurbit[6]uril-conjugated hyaluronate (CB[6]-HA) was synthesized and decorated with FITC-spermidine (spmd) and/or formyl peptide receptor like 1 (FPRL1) specific peptide-spmd by simple mixing in aqueous solution.

Supramolecular fishing for plasma membrane proteins using an ultrastable synthetic host-guest binding pair.

Membrane proteomics, the large-scale global analysis of membrane proteins, is often constrained by the efficiency of separating and extracting membrane proteins. Recent approaches involve conjugating membrane proteins with the small molecule biotin and using the receptor streptavidin to extract the labelled proteins. Despite the many advantages of this method, several shortcomings remain, including potential contamination by endogenously biotinylated molecules and interference by streptavidin during analytical stages.

Glyco-pseudopolyrotaxanes: carbohydrate wheels threaded on a polymer string and their inhibition of bacterial adhesion.

We report glyco-pseudopolyrotaxanes composed of cucurbit[6]uril-based mannose wheels (ManCB[6]) threaded on polyviologen (PV), which not only effectively induce bacterial aggregation, but also exhibit high inhibitory activity against bacterial binding to host cells. Three glyco-pseudopolyrotaxanes (1-3), which have 10, 5, and 3 ManCB[6] wheels, respectively, on a PV string, were prepared and characterized. Bacterial aggregation assays and hemagglutination inhibition assays illustrated the specific and multivalent interaction between the glyco-pseudopolyrotaxanes and E.

Reduction-sensitive, robust vesicles with a non-covalently modifiable surface as a multifunctional drug-delivery platform.

The design and synthesis of a novel reduction-sensitive, robust, and biocompatible vesicle (SSCB[6]VC) are reported, which is self-assembled from an amphiphilic cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) derivative that contains disulfide bonds between hexaethylene glycol units and a CB[6] core. The remarkable features of SSCB[6]VC include: 1) facile, non-destructive, non-covalent, and modular surface modification using exceptionally strong host-guest chemistry; 2) high structural stability; 3) facile internalization into targeted cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis, and 4) efficient triggered release of entrapped drugs in a reducing environment such as cytoplasm. Furthermore, a significantly increased cytotoxicity of the anticancer drug doxorubicin to cancer cells is demonstrated using doxorubicin-loaded SSCB[6]VC, the surface of which is decorated with functional moieties such as a folate-spermidine conjugate and fluorescein isothiocyanate-spermidine conjugate as targeting ligand and fluorescence imaging probe, respectively.

Cucurbituril-based nanoparticles: a new efficient vehicle for targeted intracellular delivery of hydrophobic drugs.

Cucurbituril-based nanoparticles (CB[6]NPs) serve as new efficient vehicles for delivery of hydrophobic drugs, which have unique features including (1) a high drug loading capacity and efficiency, (2) noncovalently tunable surfaces, (3) efficient delivery of hydrophobic drugs into a cancer cell by receptor-mediated endocytosis, and (4) facile release of drugs into cytoplasm, which enhances the pharmaceutical effects of the drugs.