Luis A Vázquez-Rivera, Jiaqi Shen, Gwendolyn Shingles, Guanwei Zhou, Wenjing Wang
Chemically gated protein switches have broad applications in regulating cellular activities. In this study, we introduce DuoSelect, a yeast surface selection platform for selecting protein switches based on signal-to-background ratios by combining both negative and positive selections in a single round of sorting. We demonstrate this platform's utility by selecting for two chemical-dependent protein switches and showcase the protein switch's application in cellular assays.
{"title":"A novel directed evolution platform for engineering chemically gated protein switches.","authors":"Luis A Vázquez-Rivera, Jiaqi Shen, Gwendolyn Shingles, Guanwei Zhou, Wenjing Wang","doi":"10.1039/d5cc06861d","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d5cc06861d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chemically gated protein switches have broad applications in regulating cellular activities. In this study, we introduce DuoSelect, a yeast surface selection platform for selecting protein switches based on signal-to-background ratios by combining both negative and positive selections in a single round of sorting. We demonstrate this platform's utility by selecting for two chemical-dependent protein switches and showcase the protein switch's application in cellular assays.</p>","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":" ","pages":"5975-5979"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12954488/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147343035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, fuel cells, and metal-air batteries are largely governed by processes occurring within the outermost few nanometres of their surface. Low-temperature plasmas provide an effective means to tailor this region, using energetic electrons and reactive species to enable rapid, surface-confined modification while preserving the underlying scaffold. In this Feature Article, we review plasma engineering strategies for HER, OER and ORR electrocatalysts, including examples from zinc-air batteries and direct methanol fuel cells. We classify plasma effects into five generic design modes: phase transformation and plasma-assisted derivation; defect and vacancy engineering; plasma-induced doping; plasma-enabled deposition and interface construction; and single-atom anchoring with strong metal-support interactions. We also propose simple design rules that connect controllable plasma parameters to targeted active sites and device-level performance.
{"title":"Non-thermal plasma restructuring of electrocatalyst surfaces for efficient hydrogen and oxygen reactions.","authors":"Chu Qin, Zhenglong Tao, Xuanhao Wu, Zhongqing Jiang","doi":"10.1039/d5cc06818e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5cc06818e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, fuel cells, and metal-air batteries are largely governed by processes occurring within the outermost few nanometres of their surface. Low-temperature plasmas provide an effective means to tailor this region, using energetic electrons and reactive species to enable rapid, surface-confined modification while preserving the underlying scaffold. In this Feature Article, we review plasma engineering strategies for HER, OER and ORR electrocatalysts, including examples from zinc-air batteries and direct methanol fuel cells. We classify plasma effects into five generic design modes: phase transformation and plasma-assisted derivation; defect and vacancy engineering; plasma-induced doping; plasma-enabled deposition and interface construction; and single-atom anchoring with strong metal-support interactions. We also propose simple design rules that connect controllable plasma parameters to targeted active sites and device-level performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147466443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Platinum(Pt)-based drugs remain the cornerstone of malignant tumor treatment, but are severely constrained by drug resistance. Conventional Pt agents primarily induce apoptosis, yet resistant cancer cells can bypass this pathway, leading to treatment failure. In contrast, phototherapeutic Pt complexes, leveraging photodynamic therapy and photoactivated chemotherapy, represent a novel approach to overcoming resistance by either enhancing apoptosis or activating alternative programmed cell death (PCD) pathways. This review provides a comprehensive overview of Pt-based photosensitizers and photoactivated agents that trigger diverse PCD pathways, including apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and immunogenic cell death, to combat resistance. We elucidate the unique features and mechanistic underpinnings of each pathway, providing in-depth analyses of representative complexes to illustrate their PCD induction strategies and effectiveness in reducing resistance. Additionally, we present critical insights and forward-looking perspectives on the development of next-generation Pt phototherapeutics that leverage diverse PCD pathways. Overall, this review highlights the significance of multimodal PCD induction, proposing that targeting these pathways offers a novel strategic opportunity for Pt-based anticancer agents to overcome drug resistance.
{"title":"Beyond Apoptosis: Platinum Phototherapeutics Overcome Resistance by Triggering Diverse Cell Death Pathways","authors":"Shu Chen, Zhigang Wang, Guangyu Zhu","doi":"10.1039/d6cc00284f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc00284f","url":null,"abstract":"Platinum(Pt)-based drugs remain the cornerstone of malignant tumor treatment, but are severely constrained by drug resistance. Conventional Pt agents primarily induce apoptosis, yet resistant cancer cells can bypass this pathway, leading to treatment failure. In contrast, phototherapeutic Pt complexes, leveraging photodynamic therapy and photoactivated chemotherapy, represent a novel approach to overcoming resistance by either enhancing apoptosis or activating alternative programmed cell death (PCD) pathways. This review provides a comprehensive overview of Pt-based photosensitizers and photoactivated agents that trigger diverse PCD pathways, including apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and immunogenic cell death, to combat resistance. We elucidate the unique features and mechanistic underpinnings of each pathway, providing in-depth analyses of representative complexes to illustrate their PCD induction strategies and effectiveness in reducing resistance. Additionally, we present critical insights and forward-looking perspectives on the development of next-generation Pt phototherapeutics that leverage diverse PCD pathways. Overall, this review highlights the significance of multimodal PCD induction, proposing that targeting these pathways offers a novel strategic opportunity for Pt-based anticancer agents to overcome drug resistance.","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147465935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiaqi Ji, Bin Liu, Haoting Qiu, Mingdi Yu, Yanlong Huang, Changman Guo, Xiaoyan Dang, Congyu Zhang, Ding-Yi Fu, Shushu Ding
We have developed a modification-free glass nanochannel for sensitive and selective detection of Aβ monomers, which operates through a dispersion-dominated recognition mechanism based on stimuli-responsive polymer-functionalized gold nanoparticles. This platform was successfully applied to monitor Aβ monomers in live mouse brains in Alzheimer's disease combined with in vivo microdialysis.
{"title":"A modification-free nanochannel platform for monitoring cerebral β-amyloid peptides based on the dispersion of stimuli-responsive polymer-modified gold nanoparticles.","authors":"Jiaqi Ji, Bin Liu, Haoting Qiu, Mingdi Yu, Yanlong Huang, Changman Guo, Xiaoyan Dang, Congyu Zhang, Ding-Yi Fu, Shushu Ding","doi":"10.1039/d5cc06579h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d5cc06579h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We have developed a modification-free glass nanochannel for sensitive and selective detection of Aβ monomers, which operates through a dispersion-dominated recognition mechanism based on stimuli-responsive polymer-functionalized gold nanoparticles. This platform was successfully applied to monitor Aβ monomers in live mouse brains in Alzheimer's disease combined with <i>in vivo</i> microdialysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":" ","pages":"5947-5950"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147323882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We devised a simple method to regulate the membrane permeability of polymersomes. The key concept of our method is to use stimuli-responsive block copolymers as gate-generating components. Such copolymers have been adopted to prepare 'smart nanoreactors' that respond to changes in temperature or solution pH.
{"title":"A dual-gated polymersome nanoreactor.","authors":"Ping Wei, Dongjing Guo, Jinghua Chen","doi":"10.1039/d6cc01021k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc01021k","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We devised a simple method to regulate the membrane permeability of polymersomes. The key concept of our method is to use stimuli-responsive block copolymers as gate-generating components. Such copolymers have been adopted to prepare 'smart nanoreactors' that respond to changes in temperature or solution pH.</p>","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147471863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chunhui Huang, Meng Tian, Ge Jin, Yuhan Zou, Yuyuan Wang, Jiyun Hu, Yang He, Ya-Yun Li, Jingyu Sun
A novel covalent organic framework (COF)-decorated nanocellulose separator is customized. Benefiting from the distinctive zincophilic motifs, such a separator helps homogenize the ionic flux, enhance the ion-transport kinetics, and facilitate desolvation of hydrated Zn2+, thereby improving the reversibility of Zn plating/stripping toward advanced Zn metal batteries.
{"title":"A COF-decorated nanocellulose separator affording modulated ion transport for advanced Zn metal batteries.","authors":"Chunhui Huang, Meng Tian, Ge Jin, Yuhan Zou, Yuyuan Wang, Jiyun Hu, Yang He, Ya-Yun Li, Jingyu Sun","doi":"10.1039/d6cc00608f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc00608f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A novel covalent organic framework (COF)-decorated nanocellulose separator is customized. Benefiting from the distinctive zincophilic motifs, such a separator helps homogenize the ionic flux, enhance the ion-transport kinetics, and facilitate desolvation of hydrated Zn<sup>2+</sup>, thereby improving the reversibility of Zn plating/stripping toward advanced Zn metal batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147466411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) semiconductor incorporating fluorinated naphthobisthiadiazole (FNTz) end units in an A2–A1–A2 architecture, DNTDPP, is synthesized to stabilize electron transport. The molecule exhibits a low LUMO level (−3.89 eV), strong solid state aggregation, and excellent thermal stability. Top gate bottom contact OTFTs deliver monopolar n type behavior with electron mobility up to 1.18 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹.
{"title":"Dual-Acceptor-Clamped Diketopyrrolopyrrole for High Performance monopolar n-Type Transistors","authors":"Zhiwei Yang, Shihong Zhou, Haijun Long, Yanlin Chen, Jing Li, Tianwen Chen, Xiaodi Gong, Zitong Liu, Luxi Tan","doi":"10.1039/d6cc00082g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc00082g","url":null,"abstract":"A diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) semiconductor incorporating fluorinated naphthobisthiadiazole (FNTz) end units in an A2–A1–A2 architecture, DNTDPP, is synthesized to stabilize electron transport. The molecule exhibits a low LUMO level (−3.89 eV), strong solid state aggregation, and excellent thermal stability. Top gate bottom contact OTFTs deliver monopolar n type behavior with electron mobility up to 1.18 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹.","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147465931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A palladium-catalyzed direct carbonylative amidation that enables the efficient coupling of benzylic alcohols with alkylamines under mild conditions has been developed. Key to the success is the use of pentafluoropyridine as a activating group, which facilitates selective alcohol activation and suppresses undesired side reactions.Amide bond formation stands as a cornerstone-and a persistent challenge-in synthetic chemistry, particularly in the context of modern atom-and step-economical synthesis. 1 This is especially relevant for medicinally privileged structures such as the benzylamide motifs found in widely prescribed Z-drugs like zolpidem and alpidem, where efficient and modular access to this scaffold is highly desirable (Scheme 1, a). 2 While classical condensation methods relying on pre-activated carboxylic derivatives remain indispensable in both academic and industrial settings, their dependence on stoichiometric coupling agents and the concomitant generation of chemical waste imposes clear limitations in terms of sustainability and operational simplicity. Following the pioneering work on transition-metal-catalyzed carbonylative coupling by R. F. Heck, catalytic carbonylation has emerged as a powerful synthetic platform. 3 Among its most notable advances is the threecomponent coupling of aryl (pseudo)halides, carbon monoxide, and amines, which offers an efficient and direct route to amide bonds. 4 Despite substantial progress, these methods universally require pre-functionalized electrophilic partners, which introduces additional synthetic steps and constrains the modularity of the approach.
{"title":"Direct Carbonylative Amidation of Benzylic Alcohols with Alkylamines via Palladium Catalyzed C-O Bond Activation","authors":"Zhiping Yin, Heng Li, Xiaowen Qin, Mengyang Liu, Chang-Sheng Wang, Xiao-Feng Wu","doi":"10.1039/d6cc01058j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc01058j","url":null,"abstract":"A palladium-catalyzed direct carbonylative amidation that enables the efficient coupling of benzylic alcohols with alkylamines under mild conditions has been developed. Key to the success is the use of pentafluoropyridine as a activating group, which facilitates selective alcohol activation and suppresses undesired side reactions.Amide bond formation stands as a cornerstone-and a persistent challenge-in synthetic chemistry, particularly in the context of modern atom-and step-economical synthesis. 1 This is especially relevant for medicinally privileged structures such as the benzylamide motifs found in widely prescribed Z-drugs like zolpidem and alpidem, where efficient and modular access to this scaffold is highly desirable (Scheme 1, a). 2 While classical condensation methods relying on pre-activated carboxylic derivatives remain indispensable in both academic and industrial settings, their dependence on stoichiometric coupling agents and the concomitant generation of chemical waste imposes clear limitations in terms of sustainability and operational simplicity. Following the pioneering work on transition-metal-catalyzed carbonylative coupling by R. F. Heck, catalytic carbonylation has emerged as a powerful synthetic platform. 3 Among its most notable advances is the threecomponent coupling of aryl (pseudo)halides, carbon monoxide, and amines, which offers an efficient and direct route to amide bonds. 4 Despite substantial progress, these methods universally require pre-functionalized electrophilic partners, which introduces additional synthetic steps and constrains the modularity of the approach.","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":"213 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147465932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Inspired by cellular slime molds, a biomimetic self-supporting MXene membrane is fabricated. This design integrates covalent cross-linking for stability with phosphate groups for specific uranium capture. The membrane achieves a high extraction capacity of 3,768 mg/g under an applied voltage, demonstrating a promising strategy for advanced nuclear wastewater treatment.
{"title":"Slime Mold-Bioinspired MXene Membrane for Efficient Uranium Immobilization","authors":"Yujie Shao, Yan Liu, Zhirong Liu, Ruiming Zhang, Changfu Wang, Yun Wang, Dingzhong Yuan, Fengtao Yu, Hao Jiang","doi":"10.1039/d6cc00676k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc00676k","url":null,"abstract":"Inspired by cellular slime molds, a biomimetic self-supporting MXene membrane is fabricated. This design integrates covalent cross-linking for stability with phosphate groups for specific uranium capture. The membrane achieves a high extraction capacity of 3,768 mg/g under an applied voltage, demonstrating a promising strategy for advanced nuclear wastewater treatment.","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":"282 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147465936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Binyu Zhao, Sitong Zhou, Jie Gao, Ke Chen, Fengshou Wu
A facile and effective strategy was developed to construct highly dispersed carbon dots-based COFs. The resulting CDs-COF exhibited good crystallinity, superior water dispersibility, pH-responsive degradation behavior, and high photodynamic therapy activity. This study provides a promising strategy to fabricate water‐dispersed COFs for highly efficient tumor ablation.
{"title":"Carbon dots-based covalent organic frameworks with high water dispersibility for photodynamic cancer therapy","authors":"Binyu Zhao, Sitong Zhou, Jie Gao, Ke Chen, Fengshou Wu","doi":"10.1039/d6cc00125d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cc00125d","url":null,"abstract":"A facile and effective strategy was developed to construct highly dispersed carbon dots-based COFs. The resulting CDs-COF exhibited good crystallinity, superior water dispersibility, pH-responsive degradation behavior, and high photodynamic therapy activity. This study provides a promising strategy to fabricate water‐dispersed COFs for highly efficient tumor ablation.","PeriodicalId":67,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Communications","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147466178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}