Construction of Luminescent Terpyridine-Based Metallo-Bowties with Alkyl Chain-Bridged Dimerized Building Blocks.

Numerous metallo-supramolecules with well-defined sizes and shapes have been successfully constructed via the strong coordination interaction between terpyridine (TPY) moieties and ruthenium cations. However, the pseudo-octahedral geometry of unit hampers the luminescent properties of such metallo-architectures, thus limiting their applications as optical materials. To address this issue, we herein use a flexible alkyl chain to bridge TPY building blocks, replacing conventional linkage.

Beyond Single-Cycle Autonomous Molecular Machines: Light-Powered Shuttling in a Multi-Cycle Reaction Network.

Biomolecular machines autonomously convert energy into functions, driving systems away from thermodynamic equilibrium. This energy conversion is achieved by leveraging complex, kinetically asymmetric chemical reaction networks that are challenging to characterize precisely. In contrast, all known synthetic molecular systems in which kinetic asymmetry has been quantified are well described by simple single-cycle networks.

T3SS protein EsrC binds to the -like operator of type 1 fimbrial operon to suppress adhesion of .

Type 1 fimbria, the short hair-like appendage assembled on the bacterial surface, plays a pivotal role in adhesion and invasion in . The type III secretion system (T3SS), another bacterial surface appendage, facilitates 's replication by delivering effectors into host cells. Our previous research demonstrated that T3SS protein EseJ inhibits adhesion and invasion of by suppressing type 1 fimbria.

Enhancing Effect of Fullerene Guest and Counterion on the Structural Stability and Electrical Conductivity of Octahedral Metallo-Supramolecular Cages.

Metallo-supramolecular cages have garnered tremendous attention for their diverse yet molecular-level precision structures. However, the physical properties of these supramolecular ensembles, which are of potential significance in molecular electronics, remain largely unexplored. We herein constructed a series of octahedral metallo-cages and cage-fullerene complexes with notably enhanced structural stability.

Modulation of virulence by a novel SPI-2 injectisome effector that interacts with the dystrophin-associated protein complex.

Unlabelled: The injectisome encoded by pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) had been thought to translocate 28 effectors. Here, we used a proteomic approach to characterize the secretome of a clinical strain of invasive non-typhoidal serovar Enteritidis that had been mutated to cause hyper-secretion of the SPI-2 injectisome effectors. Along with many known effectors, we discovered the novel SseM protein.

A comparison of clinical features between neurobrucellosis and tuberculous meningitis.

Backgroud: This study aims to compare the clinical manifestations, imaging findings, routine tests, biochemistry indicators and cerebrospinal fluid cytology between neurobrucellosis and tuberculous meningitis. The objective is to evaluate the similarities and differences of these two diseases and improve early diagnosis.

Methods: A comprehensive evaluation was conducted by comparing clinical data, imaging results, routine tests findings, biochemistry indicators and cerebrospinal fluid cytology of patients admitted to the Department of Neurology, the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from 2019 to 2021.

Construction of metallo-helicoids with high antimicrobial activity intermolecular coordination.

Metallo-helicoids are constructed by intermolecular coordination interactions between covalent linear polymer and tritopic/hexatopic molecular templates. These metallo-polymers with helicoidal conformation exhibit high antimicrobial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.

Constructing Ultrastable Metallo-Cages via Deprotonation/Oxidation of Dynamic Supramolecular Assemblies.

Coordination-driven self-assembly enables the spontaneous construction of metallo-supramolecules with high precision, facilitated by dynamic and reversible metal-ligand interactions. The dynamic nature of coordination, however, results in structural lability in many metallo-supramolecular assembly systems. Consequently, it remains a formidable challenge to achieve self-assembly reversibility and structural stability simultaneously in metallo-supramolecular systems.

Speaking the host language: how effector proteins manipulate the host.

injects over 40 virulence factors, termed effectors, into host cells to subvert diverse host cellular processes. Of these 40 effectors, at least 25 have been described as mediating eukaryotic-like, biochemical post-translational modifications (PTMs) of host proteins, altering the outcome of infection. The downstream changes mediated by an effector's enzymatic activity range from highly specific to multifunctional, and altogether their combined action impacts the function of an impressive array of host cellular processes, including signal transduction, membrane trafficking, and both innate and adaptive immune responses.

Encapsulating Semiconductor Quantum Dots in Supramolecular Cages Enables Ultrafast Guest-Host Electron and Vibrational Energy Transfer.

In the field of supramolecular chemistry, host-guest systems have been extensively explored to encapsulate a wide range of substrates, owing to emerging functionalities in nanoconfined space that cannot be achieved in dilute solutions. However, host-guest chemistry is still limited to encapsulation of small guests. Herein, we construct a water-soluble metallo-supramolecular hexagonal prism with a large hydrophobic cavity by anchoring multiple polyethylene glycol chains onto the building blocks.

Metallo-Supramolecular Hexagonal Wreath with Four Switchable States Based on a pH-Responsive Tridentate Ligand.

In biological systems, many biomacromolecules (, heme proteins) are capable of switching their states reversibly in response to external stimuli, endowing these natural architectures with a high level of diversity and functionality. Although tremendous efforts have been made to advance the complexity of artificial supramolecules, it remains a challenge to construct metallo-supramolecular systems that can carry out reversible interconversion among multiple states. Here, a pH-responsive tridentate ligand, 2,6-di(1-imidazole-2-yl)pyridine (HDAP), is incorporated into the multitopic building block for precise construction of giant metallo-supramolecular hexagonal wreaths with three metal ions, , Fe(II), Co(II), and Ni(II), through coordination-driven self-assembly.

Non-equilibrium Nanoassemblies Constructed by Confined Coordination on a Polymer Chain.

Biological systems employ non-equilibrium self-assembly to create ordered nanoarchitectures with sophisticated functions. However, it is challenging to construct artificial non-equilibrium nanoassemblies due to lack of control over assembly dynamics and kinetics. Herein, we design a series of linear polymers with different side groups for further coordination-driven self-assembly based on shape-complementarity.

Dramatically Enhanced Reactivity of Fullerenes and Tetrazine towards the Inverse-Electron-Demand Diels-Alder Reaction inside a Porous Porphyrinic Cage.

Inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction (IEDDA) between fullerenes and 1,2,4,5-tetrazine generally requires harsh conditions and long reaction times due to their strong electron-accepting nature. Herein, we report a dramatic enhancement in the reactivity of the fullerenes (C /C )-tetrazine reaction inside a porous Zn-porphyrinic cage (Zn-PB) under sustainable conditions by installing a tetrazine-based axle (LA) via metal-ligand coordination bond, which modulates the cavity size to facilitate the encapsulation of fullerenes. Upon encapsulation, the close proximity of fullerenes and the tetrazine group of LA dramatically increase their reactivity towards the IEDDA reaction to form fullerene-tetrazine adducts.

Precise Synthesis of Concentric Ring, Helicoid, and Ladder Metallo-Polymers with Chevron-Shaped Monomers.

Molecular geometry represents one of the most important structural features and governs physical properties and functions of materials. Nature creates a wide array of substances with distinct geometries but similar chemical composition with superior efficiency and precision. However, it remains a formidable challenge to construct abiological macromolecules with various geometries based on identical repeating units, owing to the lack of corresponding synthetic approaches for precisely manipulating the connectivity between monomers and feasible techniques for characterizing macromolecules at the single-molecule level.

Phenylthiol-BODIPY-based supramolecular metallacycles for synergistic tumor chemo-photodynamic therapy.

The development of more effective tumor therapy remains challenging and has received widespread attention. In the past decade, there has been growing interest in synergistic tumor therapy based on supramolecular coordination complexes. Herein, we describe two triangular metallacycles (1 and 2) constructed by the formation of pyridyl boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-platinum coordination.

Shape-Dependent Complementary Ditopic Terpyridine Pair with Two Levels of Self-Recognition for Coordination-Driven Self-Assembly.

Molecular recognition in biological systems plays a vital role in the precise construction of biomacromolecules and the corresponding biological activities. Such recognition mainly relies on the highly specific binding of complementary molecular pairs with complementary sizes, shapes, and intermolecular forces. It still remains challenging to develop artificial complementary motif pairs for coordination-driven self-assembly.

Metallo-Supramolecular Octahedral Cages with Three Types of Chirality towards Spontaneous Resolution.

Chirality is one of the most important intrinsic properties of (supra)molecules. In this study, we obtained enantiomeric metallo-supramolecular octahedra without using any chiral sources. Such cages were self-assembled by prochiral trispyridine ligand L based on a C truxene core and Cu salts.

Construction of emissive ruthenium(II) metallacycle over 1000 nm wavelength for in vivo biomedical applications.

Although Ru(II)-based agents are expected to be promising candidates for substituting Pt-drug, their in vivo biomedical applications are still limited by the short excitation/emission wavelengths and unsatisfactory therapeutic efficiency. Herein, we rationally design a Ru(II) metallacycle with excitation at 808 nm and emission over 1000 nm, namely Ru1085, which holds deep optical penetration (up to 6 mm) and enhanced chemo-phototherapy activity. In vitro studies indicate that Ru1085 exhibits prominent cell uptake and desirable anticancer capability against various cancer cell lines, especially for cisplatin-resistant A549 cells.

Terpyridine-Based 3D Discrete Metallosupramolecular Architectures.

Terpyridine (tpy)-based 3D discrete metallosupramolecular architectures, which are often inspired by polyhedral geometry and the biological structures found in nature, have drawn significant attention from the community of metallosupramolecular chemistry. Because of the linear tpy-M(II)-tpy connectivity, the creation of sophisticated 3D metallosupramolecules based on tpy remains a formidable synthetic challenge. Nevertheless, with recent advancement in ligand design and self-assembly, diverse 3D metallosupramolecular polyhedrons, such as Platonic solids, Archimedean solids, prims as well as Johnson solids, have been constructed and their potential applications have been explored.

Essential roles of plexin-B3 oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

The role of oligodendrocyte lineage cells, the largest glial population in the adult central nervous system (CNS), in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains elusive. Here, we developed a culture method for adult oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (aOPCs). Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) promotes survival and proliferation of NG2 aOPCs in a serum-free defined medium; a subpopulation (~5%) of plexin-B3 aOPCs was also found.

Structure of the cytoplasmic domain of SctV (SsaV) from the Salmonella SPI-2 injectisome and implications for a pH sensing mechanism.

Bacterial type III secretion systems assemble the axial structures of both injectisomes and flagella. Injectisome type III secretion systems subsequently secrete effector proteins through their hollow needle into a host, requiring co-ordination. In the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium SPI-2 injectisome, this switch is triggered by sensing the neutral pH of the host cytoplasm.

Synthesis of TEMPO radical decorated hollow porous aromatic frameworks for selective oxidation of alcohols.

A bottom-up approach was developed to prepare TEMPO radical decorated hollow aromatic frameworks (HPAF-TEMPO) by using TEMPO radical functionalized monomers and SiO2 nanospheres as templates. The accessible inner layer, high density of TEMPO sites, and hybrid micro-/mesopores of the HPAF-TEMPO enable the aerobic oxidation of a broad range of alcohols with high efficiency and excellent selectivity.

Highly oriented and polyoxometalate-incorporating surface-attached metal-organic frameworks for efficient dye adsorption and water oxidation.

We present a facile protocol for the controlled growth of highly oriented and polyoxometalate-incorporating HKUST-1 SURMOFs. Combining the spin-coating technique with alcohol-vapour induced growth, film thickness, crystallite orientation and crystal size can be precisely tuned. The SURMOFs exhibit excellent abilities in selective adsorption of cationic dyes and water oxidation.