The design of artificially engineered chiral structures has received much attention, but the implementation of dynamic functions to modulate the chiroptical response of the systems is less explored. Here, we present a light-responsive G-quadruplex (G4)-based assembly in which chirality enrichment is induced, tuned, and fueled by molecular switches. In particular, the mirror-image dependence on photoactivated azo molecules, undergoing -to- isomerization, shows chiral recognition effects on the inherent flexibility and conformational diversity of DNA G4s having distinct handedness (right- and left-handed). Through a detailed experimental and computational analysis, we bring compelling evidence on the binding mode of the photochromes on G4s, and we rationalize the origin of the chirality effect that is associated with the complexation event.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02207 | DOI Listing |
Inflammation
December 2024
Shenzhen Eye Hospital, Shenzhen Eye Institute, JinanUniversity, 18 Zetian Road, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong, China.
Microglia are highly specialized resident macrophages in the central nervous system that play a pivotal role in modulating neuroinflammation. Microglial plasticity is essential for their function, allowing them to polarize into proinflammatory M1-like or anti-inflammatory M2-like phenotypes. However, the mechanisms driving M1 and M2 microglial induction during retinal degeneration remain largely unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Genomics
December 2024
Engineering Research Center of Edible and Medicinal Fungi, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, No. 2888 Xincheng Street, Changchun , Jilin Province, 130118, China.
Background: Hericium coralloides is a traditional edible and medicinal mushroom. Light is a key factor in forming fruiting bodies of fungi; however, the effects of different light on the yield and morphogenesis of H. coralloides are still unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem Lett
December 2024
Center for Alloy Innovation and Design, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
Light-matter interaction is a long-standing promising topic that can be dated back to a few centuries ago and has witnessed the long-term debate between the particle and wave nature of light. In modern condensed matter physics and materials science, light usually serves as a detection tool to effectively characterize the physical and chemical features of samples. The light modulation on intrinsic properties of materials, such as atomic geometries, electronic bands, and magnetic behaviors, is more intriguing for information control and storage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNature
December 2024
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Controlling the functional properties of quantum materials with light has emerged as a frontier of condensed-matter physics, leading to the discovery of various light-induced phases of matter, such as superconductivity, ferroelectricity, magnetism and charge density waves. However, in most cases, the photoinduced phases return to equilibrium on ultrafast timescales after the light is turned off, limiting their practical applications. Here we use intense terahertz pulses to induce a metastable magnetization with a remarkably long lifetime of more than 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe LOV2 domain is commonly harnessed as a source of light-based regulation in engineered optogenetic switches. In prior work, we used LOV2 to create a light-regulated Dihydrofolate Reductase (DHFR) enzyme and showed that structurally disperse mutations in DHFR were able to tune the allosteric response to light. However, it remained unclear how light allosterically activates DHFR, and how disperse mutations modulate the allosteric effect.
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