Diglycine Enables Rapid Intrabacterial Hydrolysis for Activating Anbiotics against Gram‐negative Bacteria

Precisely modulated 2D PdCu alloy nanodendrites as highly active peroxidase mimics for the elimination of biofilms

Pd-based nanomaterials are good candidates for antibacterial applications because of their high catalytic activity and good biocompatibility. Nonetheless, there is still much work to do to improve the catalytic activity of Pd nanomaterials as antibacterial agents, particularly for anti-biofilms. In this work, Cu was introduced into Pd to form a series of 2D PdCu alloy nanodendrites (PdCu NDs) as high-performance peroxidase mimics based on flexible control of compositions. Remarkably, catalytic kinetics show that the composition-dependent synergy in the PdCu NDs strongly enhances the peroxidase-like activity. The detailed theoretical study reveals that the tuning of the electrostatic adsorption and dissociative chemisorption of the H₂O₂ molecule on PdCu ND surfaces by the precise introduction of Cu plays a key role in obtaining superior peroxidase-like catalytic activity. Significantly, the distinct peroxidase-like properties of the fine-tuned PdCu NDs endow them with excellent biofilm elimination capability via the generation of hydroxyl radicals. This work offers a great opportunity to design noble metal nanozymes with enhanced performance, which might advance the development of nanozymes as a new class of highly efficient antibacterial agents.

In Situ Self-Assembly of Bispecific Peptide for Cancer Immunotherapy

Precise and effective manipulation of protein functions still faces tremendous challenges. Herein we report a programmable peptide molecule, consisted of targeting and self-assembly modules, that enables specific and highly efficient assembly governed by targeting receptor proteins. Upon binding to the cell membrane receptor, peptide conformation is somewhat stabilized along with decreased self-assembly activation energy, promoting peptide-protein complex oligomerization. We first design a GNNQQNY-RGD peptide (G7-RGD) to recognize integrin α_V β₃ receptor for proof-of-concept study. In the presence of α_V β₃ protein, the critical assembly concentration of free G7-RGD decreases from 525 to 33 μM and the resultant G7-RGD cluster drives integrin receptor oligomerization. Finally, a bispecific assembling peptide antiCD3-G7-RGD is rationally designed for cancer immunotherapy, which validates CD3 oligomerization and concomitant T cell activation, leading to T cell-mediated cancer cell cytolysis.

Cyanine-Dyad Molecular Probe for the Simultaneous Profiling of the Evolution of Multiple Radical Species During Bacterial Infections

Real-time monitoring of the evolution of bacterial infection-associated multiple radical species is critical to accurately profile the pathogenesis and host-defense mechanisms. Here, we present a unique dual wavelength near-infrared (NIR) cyanine-dyad molecular probe (HCy5-Cy7) for simultaneous monitoring of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) variations both in vitro and in vivo. HCy5-Cy7 specifically turns on its fluorescence at 660 nm via superoxide or hydroxyl radical (O₂ ^.- , ^. OH)-mediated oxidation of reduced HCy5 moiety to Cy5, while peroxynitrite or hypochlorous species (ONOO^- , ClO^- )-induced Cy7 structural degradation causes the emission turn-off at 800 nm. Such multispectral but reverse signal responses allow multiplex manifestation of in situ oxidative and nitrosative stress events during the pathogenic and defensive processes in both bacteria-infected macrophage cells and living mice. Most importantly, this study may also provide new perspectives for understanding the bacterial pathogenesis and advancing the precision medicine against infectious diseases.

Selective Capture and Recovery of Monoclonal Antibodies by Self-Assembling Supramolecular Polymers of High Affinity for Protein Binding

The separation and purification of therapeutic proteins from their biological resources pose a great limitation for industrial manufacturing of biologics in an efficient and cost-effective manner. We report here a supramolecular polymeric system that can undergo multiple reversible processes for efficient capture, precipitation, and recovery of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). These supramolecular polymers, namely immunofibers (IFs), are formed by coassembly of a mAb-binding peptide amphiphile with a rationally designed filler molecule of varying stoichiometric ratios. Under the optimized conditions, IFs can specifically capture mAbs with a precipitation yield greater than 99%, leading to an overall mAb recovery yield of 94%. We also demonstrated the feasibility of capturing and recovering two mAbs from clarified cell culture harvest. These results showcase the promising potential of peptide-based supramolecular polymers as reversible affinity precipitants for mAb purification.