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Localized cancer therapies such as radiotherapy, phototherapy, and chemotherapy are precise cancer treatment strategies aimed at minimizing systemic side effects. However, cancer metastasis remains the primary cause of mortality among cancer patients in clinical settings, and localized cancer treatments have limited efficacy against metastatic cancer. Therefore, researchers are exploring strategies that combine localized therapy with immunotherapy to activate robust anti-tumor immune responses, thereby eradicating metastatic cancer. Biomaterials, as novel materials, exhibit great potential in biomedical applications and have achieved great progress in clinic translation. This review introduces biomaterials and their applications in research focused on enhancing localized cancer treatment activated anti-tumor immunity. Additionally, the current challenges and future directions of biomaterials are also discussed, providing insights and references for related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their inception, rhodamine dyes have been extensively applied in biotechnology as fluorescent markers or for the detection of biomolecules owing to their good optical physical properties. Accordingly, they have emerged as a powerful tool for the visualization of living systems. In addition to fluorescence bioimaging, the molecular design of rhodamine derivatives with disease therapeutic functions (e.g., cancer and bacterial infection) has recently attracted increased research attention, which is significantly important for the construction of molecular libraries for diagnostic and therapeutic integration. However, reviews focusing on integrated design strategies for rhodamine dye-based diagnosis and treatment and their wide application in disease treatment are extremely rare. In this review, first, a brief history of the development of rhodamine fluorescent dyes, the transformation of rhodamine fluorescent dyes from bioimaging to disease therapy, and the concept of optics-based diagnosis and treatment integration and its significance to human development are presented. Next, a systematic review of several excellent rhodamine-based derivatives for bioimaging, as well as for disease diagnosis and treatment, is presented. Finally, the challenges in practical integration of rhodamine-based diagnostic and treatment dyes and the future outlook of clinical translation are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crucial endogenous signaling chemical, hydrogen sulfide, is involved in many physiological actions. In this work, we created the fluorescent probe ER-Nap-NBD using a naphthalimide fluorophore as the signal reporter, a 7-nitro-1,2,3-benzoxadiazole amine as the responsive moiety, and a sulfonamide part for endoplasmic reticulum targeting. ER-Nap-NBD could be detected the H2S levels in solution and in living systems (cells and zebrafish). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a mitochondria-targeted nitroreductase (NTR)-activated near-infrared fluorescent probe: CS-NO2. Overexpressed NTR in mitochondria was measured with high sensitivity. More importantly, the probe CS-NO2 successfully monitored NTR activity in solid tumors and a hind-limb model of ischemia in mice. This novel finding indicates the promising function of our probe for the diagnosis of solid tumors and hypoxia-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of a near-infrared (NIR, 650–900 nm) fluorescent chromophore hemicyanine dye with high structural tailorability is of great significance in the field of detection, bioimaging, and medical therapeutic applications. It exhibits many outstanding advantages including absorption and emission in the NIR region, tunable spectral properties, high photostability as well as a large Stokes shift. These properties are superior to those of conventional fluorogens, such as coumarin, fluorescein, naphthalimides, rhodamine, and cyanine. Researchers have made remarkable progress in developing activity-based multifunctional fluorescent probes based on hemicyanine skeletons for monitoring vital biomolecules in living systems through the output of fluorescence/photoacoustic signals, and integration of diagnosis and treatment of diseases using chemotherapy or photothermal/photodynamic therapy or combination therapy. These achievements prompted researchers to develop more smart fluorescent probes using a hemicyanine fluorogen as a template. In this review, we begin by describing the brief history of the discovery of hemicyanine dyes, synthetic approaches, and design strategies for activity-based functional fluorescent probes. Then, many selected hemicyanine-based probes that can detect ions, small biomolecules, overexpressed enzymes and diagnostic reagents for diseases are systematically highlighted. Finally, potential drawbacks and the outlook for future investigation and clinical medicine transformation of hemicyanine-based activatable functional probes are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of water-soluble helicene dyes generating intense electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signal in physiological conditions is reported. Those species were prepared using diaza [4] and [6]helicenes as structural cores modified with sulfonate groups in various positions. Such groups improve their water solubility and can induce a red-shifted emission. Efficient ECL up to the near-infrared is achieved in water, demonstrating a viable strategy for the design of new near-infrared ECL dyes for bioassays and microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), an analogue of dopamine (DA), has been used to prepare fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) through the electrochemical oxidation method. The as-prepared polyDOPA-FONs have good optical properties and diverse functional groups on the surfaces and can serve as fluorescent probes for different targets. Herein, we have fully exploited the sensing properties of the polyDOPA-FONs. Fe3+, Cu2+ and Hg2+ could induce significant fluorescence quenching of the polyDOPA-FONs in water, and selective fluorescence quenching in three buffer solutions. A turn-off sensor was further established in a buffer solution system to detect Fe3+, Cu2+ and Hg2+ using the same polyDOPA-FONs. Based on the sensitive and selective fluorescence quenching in a different buffer solution, this sensor could also be applied to analyze the three metal ions in water samples. Finally, the possibility for the fabrication of an "ON–OFF" sensor and the recycling of the polyDOPA-FONs was confirmed by reversibly switching the fluorescence in Fe3+/pyrophosphate ion (PPi), Cu2+/cysteine (Cys) and Hg2+/ascorbic acid (AA) couples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper indicates that rational design and precise control for the structure and shape of nanofillers are effective for achieving the desired permittivity and breakdown strength for high energy densities of polymer nanocomposites. Two types of KTa0.5Nb0.5O3 (KTN) nanoparticles with different shapes (NC-KTN and NR-KTN) were introduced into the PVDF matrix. The molecular dynamic simulation and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area proved that the nonbonding interaction energy is stronger in the NR-KTN/PVDF composite films due to the larger surface area of NR-KTN (30.96 m2 g−1). In addition, the interfacial polarization related to the shape of nanofillers further improved the dielectric permittivity of NR-KTN/PVDF composite films. Through the comparison between the experimental data and various theoretical models, we concluded that the geometric shape of fillers has a significant impact on the dielectric constant of composite films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium polysulfides (Na2Sn, n ＞ 1) as important raw materials in the chemical industry can afford hydrogen polysulfides (H2Sn, n ＞ 1) under physiological conditions. Hydrogen polysulfides are important reactive sulfide species that play crucial roles in biological systems. The simple detection of H2Sn in solution and biosystems becomes very important as a consequence of the foregoing applications. Herein, we report a NIR fluorescent chemodosimeter, Cy-Sn, displaying turn-on fluorescence after reaction with H2Sn, which exhibits good selectivity and sensitivity in solution and biosystems. Moreover, it was applied successfully to monitor endogenous hydrogen polysulfides via the cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) enzymatic pathway during inflammation and anti-inflammation in living RAW 264.7 cells. Mouse experiments indicated that this chemodosimeter has good potential to be employed in the imaging of living biosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first Co(iii) complexes with (1,3-selenazol-2-yl)hydrazones as an unexplored class of ligands were prepared and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The novel ligands act as NNN tridentate chelators forming octahedral Co(iii) complexes. The impact of structural changes on ligands’ periphery as well as that of isosteric replacement of sulphur with selenium on the electrochemical and electronic absorption features of complexes are explored. To support the experimental data, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also conducted. Theoretical NMR chemical shifts, the relative energies and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis are calculated within the DFT approach, while the singlet excited state energies and HOMO–LUMO energy gap were calculated with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The electrophilic f− and nucleophilic f+ Fukui functions are well adapted to find the electrophile and nucleophile centres in the molecules. Both (1,3-selenazol-2-yl)- and (1,3-thiazol-2-yl)hydrazone Co(iii) complexes showed potent antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. A significant difference among them was a smaller cytotoxicity of selenium compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a near-infrared probe (Cy-B) with high sensitivity, and good specificity as well as photo-stability has been developed for monitoring both exogenous and endogenous H2O2 in living cells. To the best of our knowledge, it was applied successfully for the first time to monitor spontaneous hydrogen peroxide in an autophagy process induced by the stimulation of rapamycin. The mice imaging experiments indicate that the probe has a good potential to be employed in the imaging of living biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a strategy for modulating the electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) response by integrating a boronic acid to the chemical structure of coreactants. Excellent selectivity for d-glucose was achieved by tuning the linker length of a bis-boronic acid amine coreactant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A designed nano-KTN/Ag core/shell structure endows nano-KTN@Ag/PVDF composite films with excellent properties of remarkably enhanced dielectric permittivity, low loss tangent and flexibility. It has been found that the incorporation of KTN@Ag nanoparticles can increase the average crystallite size of the β phase in a polymer matrix, which elevates the polarization level of the polymer matrix and increases the dielectric permittivity of the nanocomposites. 25 vol% composites own a remarkably enhanced dielectric permittivity (εr = 230) at 100 Hz, which is due to MWS polarization at the internal interface between nano-KTN@Ag and the PVDF matrix, the increased induced polarization of the nanoparticles and the “boundary layer capacitor effect”. The low loss tangent is achieved because of an enhanced polarization reverse speed by the Ag shells and a blockage of charge transfer by PVDF chains. The percolation threshold of the composite films (fc = 0.317) was predicted by the percolation theory, and the theoretical results were in good agreement with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report an original strategy for the wireless electrochemical generation of light at the tip of an optical fiber bundle, coupled with a simultaneous remote readout. An optical fiber bundle coated with a nanometer-thin gold film acts as a dual platform, on the one hand to locally generate electrochemiluminescence (ECL) in a wireless manner by bipolar electrochemistry, and on the other hand to guide the resulting ECL signal. The light emission is triggered and collected at one end, transmitted by the waveguide and remotely detected at the opposite end. Integration of both functionalities at the level of the same miniaturized object leads to an unprecedented bipolar opto-electrode, allowing one to quantify the ECL intensity as a function of different parameters in a double remote approach with interesting potential applications, ranging from high-throughput catalyst screening to massive parallel biochemical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we have studied the effects of grafting density (Σ) and grafted chain length (Lg) on the structural, mechanical and visco-elastic properties of end-grafted nanoparticles (NPs) filled polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). It is found that increasing the grafting density and grafted chain length both enhance the brush/matrix interface thickness and improve the dispersion of NPs, but there seems to exist an optimum grafting density, above which the end-grafted NPs tend to aggregate. The uniaxial stress–strain behavior of PNCs is also examined, showing that the tensile stress is more enhanced by increasing Lg compared to increasing Σ. The tensile modulus as a function of the strain is fitted following our previous work (Soft Matter, 2014, 10, 5099), exhibiting a gradually reduced non-linearity with the increase of Σ and Lg. Meanwhile, by imposing a sinusoidal external shear strain, for the first time we probe the effects of Σ and Lg on the visco-elastic properties such as the storage modulus G′, loss modulus G′′ and loss factor tan δ of end-grafted NPs filled PNCs. It is shown that the non-linear relation of G′ and G′′ as a function of shear strain amplitude decreases with the increase of Σ and Lg, which is consistent with experimental observations. We infer that the increased mechanical and reduced non-linear visco-elastic properties are correlated with the enhanced brush/matrix interface and therefore better dispersion of NPs and stronger physical cross-linking. This work may provide some rational means to tune the mechanical and visco-elastic properties of end-grafted NPs filled polymer nanocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Au-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles supported on a TiO2-nanobelt (TiO2-NB) have been designed and synthesized by a one-pot photodeposition-galvanic replacement method. TEM observation revealed that small-sized metal nanoparticles (less than 2 nm) were uniformly and finely dispersed on the TiO2 nanobelt. Characterization by XRD coupled with XPS demonstrated that the Au-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles are composed of an Au-rich core/CuOx shell structure. The as-synthesized one-dimensional Au-Cu/TiO2-NB nanostructure can be easily assembled into a paper-like porous monolithic catalyst and applied in heterogeneous catalysis. The formed bimetallic nanopaper catalysts presented synergistically enhanced activity and improved stability for catalyzing the aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol compared to their monometallic counterparts. It is likely that the Au-CuOx heterostructure is responsible for the superior catalytic properties of the bimetallic Au-Cu/TiO2-NB catalysts, and the catalytic activity can be significantly affected by the Au/Cu ratio. The uniform and high dispersion of metal nanoparticles on TiO2 nanobelts is also believed to contribute to the stability of Au-Cu/TiO2-NB catalysts, suggesting that the one-dimensional TiO2 nanobelts are a desirable support for the preparation of nanoscale metal catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for 'Activity-based NIR fluorescent probes based on the versatile hemicyanine scaffold: design strategy, biomedical applications, and outlook' by Haidong Li et al., Chem. Soc. Rev., 2022, DOI: 10.1039/d1cs00307k. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel pH-triggered nanoprobe were fabricated for 19F MRI and fluorescence imaging (MRI-FI) of cancer cells. The biocompatibility, durability, high internalizing efficiency and pore architecture justify the Au-fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles as ideal, highly sensitive and highly specific vectors for 19F MRI and FI of cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Localized cancer therapies such as radiotherapy, phototherapy, and chemotherapy are precise cancer treatment strategies aimed at minimizing systemic side effects. However, cancer metastasis remains the primary cause of mortality among cancer patients in clinical settings, and localized cancer treatments have limited efficacy against metastatic cancer. Therefore, researchers are exploring strategies that combine localized therapy with immunotherapy to activate robust anti-tumor immune responses, thereby eradicating metastatic cancer. Biomaterials, as novel materials, exhibit great potential in biomedical applications and have achieved great progress in clinic translation. This review introduces biomaterials and their applications in research focused on enhancing localized cancer treatment activated anti-tumor immunity. Additionally, the current challenges and future directions of biomaterials are also discussed, providing insights and references for related research.

A quadrangular prism-like oxidized tin sulfide catalyst with abundant sulfur vacancies was designed and synthesized for the CO 2 ER. The quadrangular prism-like structure is utilized to increase the stability, while vacancy engineering is used to improve the activity and selectivity of the catalyst. The catalyst exhibits exceptional electrocatalytic activity for CO 2 reduction to HCOO - , achieving up to 95% faradaic efficiency for HCOO - and maintaining stability for up to 36 hours at -1.0 V vs. RHE in a 0.1 M KHCO 3 electrolyte.

The application of a built-in electric field due to piezoelectric potential is one of the most efficient approaches for photo-induced charge transport and separation. However, the efficiency of converting mechanical energy to chemical energy is still very low, and the enhancement of photocatalysis, thus, is limited. To overcome this problem, here, we propose sonophotocatalysis based on a new hybrid photocatalyst, which combines ferroelectric nanocrystals (BaTiO 3 ) and dendritic TiO 2 to form an urchin-like TiO 2 /BaTiO 3 hybrid photocatalyst. Under periodic ultrasonic excitation, a spontaneous polarization potential of BaTiO 3 nanocrystals in response to ultrasonic waves can act as an alternating built-in electric field to separate photoinduced carriers incessantly, which can significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity and cyclic performance of the urchin-like TiO 2 /BaTiO 3 catalyst. More importantly, the significant enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is due to the coupling effect of two types of piezoelectric potential in the presence of BaTiO 3 nanocubes as well as the semiconductor and optical properties of TiO 2 nanowires of the urchin-like TiO 2 /BaTiO 3 hybrid structure under simulated sunlight and periodic ultrasonic irradiation, which can significantly improve the efficiency of converting mechanical energy to chemical energy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks play an important role in the transparent conductive electrodes or antistatic coatings. In this work, we describe a facile two-step method to fabricate AgNWs/Zn 2 SnO 4 composite films. Long AgNWs with a high aspect ratio were prepared through a modified polyol method, in which the organic octylamine hydrochloride rather than the commonly used inorganic chlorides was used as the shape-controlling agent. The AgNW networks were fabricated on the glass substrate, on which the Zn 2 SnO 4 film was deposited, forming robust AgNWs/Zn 2 SnO 4 composite films. The as-prepared composite films have strong adhesion, high thermal stability, low sheet resistance (5-15 ohm sq -1 ) and high light transmittance (85-80%), indicating a promising application prospect for transparent conductive electrodes and antistatic coatings., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The first Co(iii) complexes with (1,3-selenazol-2-yl)hydrazones as an unexplored class of ligands were prepared and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The novel ligands act as NNN tridentate chelators forming octahedral Co(iii) complexes. The impact of structural changes on ligands' periphery as well as that of isosteric replacement of sulphur with selenium on the electrochemical and electronic absorption features of complexes are explored. To support the experimental data, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also conducted. Theoretical NMR chemical shifts, the relative energies and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis are calculated within the DFT approach, while the singlet excited state energies and HOMO-LUMO energy gap were calculated with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The electrophilic f - and nucleophilic f + Fukui functions are well adapted to find the electrophile and nucleophile centres in the molecules. Both (1,3-selenazol-2-yl)- and (1,3-thiazol-2-yl)hydrazone Co(iii) complexes showed potent antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. A significant difference among them was a smaller cytotoxicity of selenium compounds.

We report the effects of the swell-to-collapse transition on the electrochemical and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) properties of thermoresponsive pNIPAM films incorporating covalently-attached Ru(bpy) 3 2+ luminophores. Upon the collapse of the film, the number of electrochemically-active Ru(bpy) 3 2+ centers increases, due to the reduced distance between adjacent redox centers. To generate ECL, cationic and anionic coreactants are employed, which are free to diffuse in the medium. In both cases, the ECL intensity exhibits a remarkable amplification of up to 58-fold at the swell-to-collapse transition, whereas the oxidation current undergoes a steep decrease in the case of the cationic coreactant. Indeed, the diffusion of the coreactant is hindered by the collapse of the film. The fact that ECL emission is enhanced whereas less coreactant radicals are generated is an intriguing observation because it is classically believed that the higher the oxidation rate of the coreactant the stronger the ECL emission. Thanks to the study of such films where antagonistic effects occur, we demonstrate that ECL enhancement is neither correlated with the oxidation efficiency of the coreactant nor with the hydrophilic-hydrophobic transition, but solely due to film shrinking. The decrease of the distance between adjacent redox centers, which favors better electron-transfer processes, is found to be the main parameter governing the ECL enhancement. Finally, it is noteworthy that the present turn-on ECL signal with increasing temperature is unique compared to many thermoresponsive luminescent systems.

Novel pH-triggered nanoprobe were fabricated for (19)F MRI and fluorescence imaging (MRI-FI) of cancer cells. The biocompatibility, durability, high internalizing efficiency and pore architecture justify the Au-fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles as ideal, highly sensitive and highly specific vectors for (19)F MRI and FI of cancer cells.