Transient inhibition of type I interferon enhances CD8 T cell stemness and vaccine protection.

Unlabelled: Developing vaccines that promote CD8 T cell memory is a challenge for infectious disease and cancer immunotherapy. TCF-1 stem cell-like memory T (T ) cells are important determinants of long-lived memory. Yet, the developmental requirements for T formation are unclear.

ESCRT recruitment to SARS-CoV-2 spike induces virus-like particles that improve mRNA vaccines.

Prime-boost regimens for COVID-19 vaccines elicit poor antibody responses against Omicron-based variants and employ frequent boosters to maintain antibody levels. We present a natural infection-mimicking technology that combines features of mRNA- and protein nanoparticle-based vaccines through encoding self-assembling enveloped virus-like particles (eVLPs). eVLP assembly is achieved by inserting an ESCRT- and ALIX-binding region (EABR) into the SARS-CoV-2 spike cytoplasmic tail, which recruits ESCRT proteins to induce eVLP budding from cells.

ESCRT recruitment to mRNA-encoded SARS-CoV-2 spike induces virus-like particles and enhanced antibody responses.

Prime-boost regimens for COVID-19 vaccines elicit poor antibody responses against Omicron-based variants and employ frequent boosters to maintain antibody levels. We present a natural infection-mimicking technology that combines features of mRNA- and protein nanoparticle-based vaccines through encoding self-assembling enveloped virus-like particles (eVLPs). eVLP assembly is achieved by inserting an ESCRT- and ALIX-binding region (EABR) into the SARS-CoV-2 spike cytoplasmic tail, which recruits ESCRT proteins to induce eVLP budding from cells.

Probing Metal-Dependent Phosphate Binding for the Catalysis of the 17E DNAzyme.

The RNA-cleaving 17E DNAzyme exhibits different levels of cleavage activity in the presence of various divalent metal ions, with Pb giving the fastest cleavage. In this study, the metal-phosphate interaction is probed to understand the trend of activity with different metal ions. For the first-row transition metals, the lowest activity shown by Ni correlates with the inhibition by the inorganic phosphate and its water ligand exchange rate, suggesting inner-sphere metal coordination.

Good's buffers have various affinities to gold nanoparticles regulating fluorescent and colorimetric DNA sensing.

Citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are highly important for sensing, drug delivery, and materials design. Many of their reactions take place in various buffers such as phosphate and Good's buffers. The effect of buffer on the surface properties of AuNPs is critical, yet this topic has not been systematically explored.

Zn -Dependent DNAzymes: From Solution Chemistry to Analytical, Materials and Therapeutic Applications.

Since 1994, deoxyribozymes or DNAzymes have been in vitro selected to catalyze various types of reactions. Metal ions play a critical role in DNAzyme catalysis, and Zn is a very important one among them. Zn has good biocompatibility and can be used for intracellular applications.

Selection of a metal ligand modified DNAzyme for detecting Ni.

Nickel is a highly important metal, and the detection of Ni using biosensors is a long-stand analytical challenge. DNA has been widely used for metal detection, although no DNA-based sensors were reported for Ni. DNAzymes are DNA-based catalysts, and they recruit metal ions for catalysis.

Replacing Mg by Fe for RNA-Cleaving DNAzymes.

It has been proposed that Mg and Fe are very similar in interacting with ribozymes and some protein-based enzymes, but their activities with DNAzymes have yet to be studied. Here, the activity of Fe as cofactor for a few RNA-cleaving DNAzymes is investigated. 17E is a well-studied DNAzyme that is active in the presence of many different divalent metal ions; it is highly active with Fe with an apparent K of 29.

Instantaneous Iodine-Assisted DNAzyme Cleavage of Phosphorothioate RNA.

Metal ions play a critical role in the RNA-cleavage reaction by interacting with the scissile phosphate and stabilizing the highly negatively charged transition state. Many metal-dependent DNAzymes have been selected for RNA cleavage. Herein, we report that the Ce13d DNAzyme can use nonmetallic iodine (I) to cleave a phosphorothioate (PS)-modified substrate.

Quantum dots as platforms for charge transfer-based biosensing: challenges and opportunities.

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have received significant attention as unique photoluminescent materials for biological imaging and sensing. Charge transfer (CT) modulation of QD emission has recently emerged as a promising detection modality in these applications; however, much still remains unknown about the mechanism through which an electron or hole transfers from a QD exciton to a redox active moiety in a bioconjugate construct. Here, we highlight the utility and challenges of CT for QD-based biosensing, particularly in comparison to Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), and summarize the current understanding of this process, which is situated at the intersection between biological and photovoltaic research with QDs.