Extracellular vesicles in hepatocellular carcinoma: unraveling immunological mechanisms for enhanced diagnosis and overcoming drug resistance.

Current research is focused on utilizing EVs as a biopsy tool to improve the diagnostic accuracy of HCC, reduce surgical risk, and explore their potential in modulating drug resistance and advancing immunotherapeutic strategies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been increasingly recognized as important non-invasive biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to the presence of a variety of biomolecules within them, such as proteins and RNAs, etc. EVs play a key role in the early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic monitoring of HCC.

A general supramolecular adjuvant for pesticides based on host-guest recognition.

Background: Pesticides are indispensable in agriculture and can effectively improve the yields and quality of crops. Due to their weak water solubility, most pesticides need to be dissolved by adding solubilizing adjuvants. In this work, based on molecular recognition of the macrocyclic host, we developed a novel supramolecular adjuvant, called sulfonated azocalix[4]arene (SAC4A), which significantly improves the water solubility of pesticides.

An Antitumor Dual-Responsive Host-Guest Supramolecular Polymer Based on Hypoxia-Cleavable Azocalix[4]arene.

The exploitation of specific guests which can respond to external stimuli is the main approach for the construction of stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymers (SPs) based on host-guest interactions. Most functional guests, however, fail to manifest stimuli-responses. Herein, a hypoxia-responsive dimeric azocalixarene (D-SAC4A) with outstanding hosting properties was used as the macrocyclic building block for the preparation of host stimuli-responsive SPs.

Noninvasive and Individual-Centered Monitoring of Uric Acid for Precaution of Hyperuricemia via Optical Supramolecular Sensing.

Characterized by an excessively increased uric acid (UA) level in serum, hyperuricemia induces gout and also poses a great threat to renal and cardiovascular systems. It is urgent and meaningful to perform early warning by noninvasive diagnosis, thus conducing to blockage of disease aggravation. Here, guanidinocalix[5]arene (GC5A) is successfully identified from the self-built macrocyclic library to specifically monitor UA from urine by the indicator displacement assay.

A hypoxia-responsive supramolecular formulation for imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Photothermal agents (PTAs) based on organic small-molecule dyes emerge as promising theranostic strategy in imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT). However, hydrophobicity, photodegradation, and low signal-to-noise ratio impede their transformation from bench to bedside. In this study, a novel supramolecular PTT formulation by a stimuli-responsive macrocyclic host is prepared to overcome these obstacles of organic small-molecule PTAs.

Coassembly of hypoxia-sensitive macrocyclic amphiphiles and extracellular vesicles for targeted kidney injury imaging and therapy.

Background: Hypoxia is a major contributor to global kidney diseases. Targeting hypoxia is a promising therapeutic option against both acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease; however, an effective strategy that can achieve simultaneous targeted kidney hypoxia imaging and therapy has yet to be established. Herein, we fabricated a unique nano-sized hypoxia-sensitive coassembly (Pc/C5A@EVs) via molecular recognition and self-assembly, which is composed of the macrocyclic amphiphile C5A, the commercial dye sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine (Pc) and mesenchymal stem cell-excreted extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs).

A Supramolecular Antidote to Macromolecular Toxins Prepared through Coassembly of Macrocyclic Amphiphiles.

Poisoning is a leading cause of admission to medical emergency departments and intensive care units. Supramolecular detoxification, which involves injecting supramolecular receptors that bind with toxins to suppress their biological activity, is an emerging strategy for poisoning treatment; it has few requirements and a broad application scope. However, it is still a formidable challenge to design supramolecular therapeutic materials as an antidote to macromolecular toxins, because the large size, flexible conformation, and presence of multiple and diverse binding sites of biomacromolecules hinder their recognition.

A General Hypoxia-Responsive Molecular Container for Tumor-Targeted Therapy.

Enhanced drug delivery can improve the therapeutic efficacy of drugs and help overcome side effects. However, many reported drug-delivery systems are too complex and irreproducible for practical use. In this work, the design of a hypoxia-responsive molecular container based on calixarene, called CAC4A, which presents a significant advance in practical, hypoxia-targeted drug-delivery, is reported.

Supramolecular Tandem Assay for Pyridoxal-5'-phosphate by the Reporter Pair of Guanidinocalix[5]Arene and Fluorescein.

Guanidinocalix[5]arene and fluorescein reporter pair has been chosen to set up a supramolecular tandem assay principle based on the differential recognition of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (the substrate of alkaline phosphatase, ALP), pyridoxal (the product of ALP) and phosphate (the product of ALP). This supramolecular tandem assay system offers an opportunity to monitor the activity of ALP in a label-free, continuous, and real-time manner. More importantly, a calibration curve can be given for selective and quantitative detection of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (biomarker for several diseases).

A colorimetric and fluorometric dual-modal sensor for methanol based on a functionalized pentacenequinone derivative.

A functionalized pentacenequinone derivative, ZR1, as a highly selective sensor for methanol has been prepared. Based on the methanol-induced keto-enol tautomerization of the pentacene-quinone moiety, ZR1 shows specific selectivity toward methanol, which leads to dual-modal detection of methanol with a very low detection limit of 0.038% in ethanol.