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With evolution from polyoxometalate-based molecular building blocks to infinite building blocks (IBBs), a supramolecular polyoxometalate–cyclodextrin framework was constructed by an IBB strategy for multifunctional oxidative catalysis.

Transition metal doping effectively tuned the photochemical properties of titanium-oxo clusters {Ti2Mn4}, {Ti8Co5} and {Ti12Cd5}.

With connection of phosphite, {Ti3(μ3-O)} can transform into a discrete {Ti6P2}-based cluster, {Ti9P3}-based coordination capsule and {Ti6P2}-based 1D coordination polymer by tuning the geometry and size of the ligand.

N-Glycosylation is often essential for the structure and function of proteins. However, N-glycosylated proteins from natural sources exhibit considerable heterogeneity in the appended oligosaccharides, bringing daunting challenges to corresponding basic research and therapeutic applications. To address this issue, various synthetic, enzymatic, and chemoenzymatic approaches have been elegantly designed. Utilizing the endoglycosidase-catalyzed transglycosylation method, a single N-acetylglucosamine (N-GlcNAc, analogous to a tree stump) on proteins can be converted to various homogeneous N-glycosylated forms, thereby becoming the focus of research efforts. In this concept article, we briefly introduce the methods that allow the generation of N-GlcNAc and its close analogues on proteins and peptides and highlight the current challenges and opportunities the scientific community is facing.

Amino groups are common in both natural and synthetic compounds and offer a very attractive class of endogenous handles for bioconjugation. However, the ability to differentiate two types of amino groups and join them with high hetero-selectivity and efficiency in a complex setting remains elusive. Herein, we report a new method for bioconjugation via one-pot chemoselective clamping of two different amine nucleophiles using a simple ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) reagent. Various α-amino acids, aryl amines, and secondary amines can be crosslinked to the ϵ-amino side chain of lysine on peptides or proteins with high efficiency and hetero-selectivity. This method offers a simple and powerful means to crosslink small molecule drugs, imaging probes, peptides, proteins, carbohydrates, and even virus particles without any pre-functionalization.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) occurring on lysine residues, especially diverse forms of acylations, have seen rapid growth over the past two decades. Among them, lactylation and β-hydroxybutyrylation of lysine side-chains are newly identified histone marks and their implications in physiology and diseases have aroused broad research interest. Meanwhile, lysine lipoylation is highly conserved in diverse organisms and well known for its pivotal role in central metabolic pathways. Recent findings in the proteomic profiling of protein lipoylation have nonetheless suggested a pressing need for an extensive investigation. For both basic and applied research, it is necessary to prepare PTM-bearing proteins particularly in a site-specific manner. Herein, we use genetic code expansion to site-specifically generate these lysine PTMs, including lactylation, β-hydroxybutyrylation and lipoylation in proteins in E. coli and mammalian cells. Notably, using strategies including activity-based selection, screening and rational design, unique pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase variants were successfully evolved for each of the three non-canonical amino acids, which enabled efficient production of recombinant proteins. Through encoding these ncAAs, we examined the deacylase activities of mammalian sirtuins to these modifications, and importantly we unfold the lipoamidase activity of several sirtuins.

Lysine crotonylation (Kcr) is increasingly recognized as a key protein post-translational modification. However, selective detection and enrichment of crotonylated proteins remains a challenging task. Herein we present a covalent binder for the selective recognition of protein crotonylation. Based on proximity-induced crosslinking, a bacterial sirtuin (CobB) was remodeled with genetically installed thiol-bearing noncanonical amino acids at the Kcr-interacting site, which subsequently could react with Kcr sites in a unique NAD

Lysine ε-N-benzoylation is a recently identified PTM occurring on histone proteins, and herein we genetically encoded ε-N-benzoyl-lysine (BzK) into recombinant proteins in E. coli and mammalian cells, and applied it for the modification of histone proteins and the analysis of sirtuin debenzoylase activity.

Protein glycosylation plays critical roles in many biological processes. However, the fundamental study and application of glycobiology are hindered by the heterogeneousness of oligosaccharides in natural glycoproteins and the difficulty in constructing glycoproteins of human design. Herein, we describe a semisynthetic method to site-specifically modify proteins with reducing carbohydrates. The method involves the genetic incorporation of a side-chain-esterified aspartate, which was subsequently quantitatively converted into alanine-β-hydrazide (Aβz), and chemoselective conjugation of Aβz with a range of readily available reducing carbohydrates. The resulting Aβz-linked GlcNAc is a close mimic of native N-GlcNAc and could be installed on various proteins, including IL-17A and RNase A. Notably, Aβz-linked GlcNAc on proteins reacted with biantennary oligosaccharide oxazoline derivatives through endoglycosidase-catalyzed transglycosylation reactions to enable the assembly of homogeneous glycans on proteins.

Polyoxometalate Molybdenum blue (MBs) complexes typically exist as discrete multianionic clusters and are composed of repeating Mo building units. MB Wheels, such as {Mo176} and {Mo154} are made fr...

Eight alkene-functionalized molybdenum-based spherical Keplerate-type (inorganic fullerene) structures have been obtained via both direct and multistep synthetic approaches. Driven by the opportunity to design unique host–guest interactions within hydrophobic, π-electron rich confined environments, we have synthesised {(NH4)42[Mo132O372(L)30(H2O)72]}, where L = (1) acrylic acid, (2) crotonic acid, (3) methacrylic acid, (4) tiglic acid, (5) 3-butenoic acid, (6) 4-pentenoic acid, (7) 5-hexenoic acid, and (8) sorbic acid. The compounds, which are obtained in good yield (10–40%), contain 30 carboxylate-coordinated alkene ligands which create a central cavity with hydrophobic character. Extensive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy studies contribute significantly to the complete characterisation of the structures obtained, including both 1D and 2D measurements. In addition, single-crystal X-ray crystallography and subsequently-generated electron density maps are employed to highlight the distribution in ligand tail positions. These alkene-containing structures are shown to effectively encapsulate small alkyl thiols (1-propanethiol (A), 2-propanethiol (B), 1-butanethiol (C), 2-butanethiol (D) and 2-methyl-1-propanethiol (E)) as guests within the central cavity in aqueous solution. The hydrophobically driven clustering of up to 6 equivalents of volatile thiol guests within the central cavity of the Keplerate-type structure results in effective thermal protection, preventing evaporation at elevated temperatures (ΔT ≈ 25 K).

In Tokamak device, many larger capacity pulsed power supplies have been installed to provide high-energy magnetic field to control plasma. In this article, a new digital control system for satisfying larger capacity pulse power supply is introduced. This control scheme uses programmable automation controller (PAC) architecture, which consists of software platform and hardware platform to design a new digital control system, and in this system, real-time operation system (OS) and real-time communication network can provide much more precise and predictable timing characteristics to fulfill the requirements of the real-time control for pulse power supply in Tokamak device. Its hardware architecture based on integration and modularization can provide reliability, stability, and flexibility for digital control application; meanwhile, its software platform is used to handle data communication, close-looping control, protection strategy execution, and trigger output. After the digital control system of the large-capacity pulse power supply is built, its performance is verified through the HL-2A experiments. The result shows that the digital control system achieves the design goals and has high reliability and stability.

Lysine acetylation is one of the most basic molecular mechanisms to mediate protein functions in living organisms, and its abnormal regulation has been linked to many diseases. The drug development associated to this process is of great significance but severely hindered by the complex interplay of lysine acetylation and deacetylation in thousands of proteins, and we reasoned that targeting a specific protein acetylation or deacetylation event instead of the related enzymes should be a feasible solution to this issue. Toward this goal, we devised an orthogonal lysine acylation and deacylation (OKAD) system, which potentially could precisely dissect the biological consequence of an individual acetylation or deacetylation event in living cells. The system includes a genetically encoded acylated lysine (PhOAcK) that is not a substrate of endogenous deacetylases, and an evolved sirtuin (CobB2/CobB3) that displays PhOAcK deacylase activities as well as reduced deacetylase activities. We believe the strategy introduced here holds potential for future in-depth biological applications.

Eight alkene-functionalized molybdenum-based spherical Keplerate-type (inorganic fullerene) structures have been obtained via both direct and multistep synthetic approaches. Driven by the opportunity to design unique host–guest interactions within hydrophobic, π-electron rich confined environments, we have synthesised {(NH4)42[Mo132O372(L)30(H2O)72]}, where L = (1) acrylic acid, (2) crotonic acid, (3) methacrylic acid, (4) tiglic acid, (5) 3-butenoic acid, (6) 4-pentenoic acid, (7) 5-hexenoic acid, and (8) sorbic acid. The compounds, which are obtained in good yield (10–40%), contain 30 carboxylate-coordinated alkene ligands which create a central cavity with hydrophobic character. Extensive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy studies contribute significantly to the complete characterisation of the structures obtained, including both 1D and 2D measurements. In addition, single-crystal X-ray crystallography and subsequently-generated electron density maps are employed to highlight the distribution in ligand tail positions. These alkene-containing structures are shown to effectively encapsulate small alkyl thiols (1-propanethiol (A), 2-propanethiol (B), 1-butanethiol (C), 2-butanethiol (D) and 2-methyl-1-propanethiol (E)) as guests within the central cavity in aqueous solution. The hydrophobically driven clustering of up to 6 equivalents of volatile thiol guests within the central cavity of the Keplerate-type structure results in effective thermal protection, preventing evaporation at elevated temperatures (ΔT ≈ 25 K)., Eight alkene-functionalized molybdenum-based spherical Keplerate-type (inorganic fullerene) structures have been obtained and shown to sequester and thermally insulate volatile organics.

A p-isothiocyanate phenylalanine mutant of the homodimeric protein homoserine o-succinyltransferase (MetA) was isolated in a temperature dependent selection from a library of metA mutants containing noncanonical amino acids. This mutant protein has a dramatic increase of 24 °C in thermal stability compared to the wild type protein. Peptide mapping experiments revealed that the isothiocyanate group forms a thiourea cross-link to the N terminal proline of the other monomer, despite the two positions being30 Å apart in the X-ray crystal structure of the wild type protein. These results show that an expanded set of building blocks beyond the canonical 20 amino acids can lead to significant changes in the properties of proteins.

The direct catalytic oxidation of alcohols to esters is very appealing, but the economical-friendly catalysis systems are not yet well established. Herein, we show that a pure inorganic ligand-supported single-atomic cobalt compound, (NH 4 ) 3 [CoMo 6 O 18 (OH) 6 ] (simplified as CoMo 6 ), could be used as a heterogeneous catalyst and effectively promote this type of reaction in the presence of 30% H 2 O 2 using KCl as an additive. The oxidative cross-esterification of various alcohols (aromatic and aliphatic) could be achieved under mild conditions in nearly all cases, affording the corresponding esters in high yields, including several drug molecules and natural products. Detailed studies have revealed that chloride ion is able to bind to the CoMo 6 to form a supramolecular dimer 2(CoMo 6 ∙Cl), which can effectively catalyze the reaction via a synergistic effect from chloride ion and CoMo 6 . Mechanism studies and control reactions demonstrate that the esterification proceeds via the key oxidative immediate of aldehydes.

The reuse of waste polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has drawn much attention as it can reduce plastic waste and associated pollution, and provide valuable raw materials and products. In this study, sulfonated PVC-derived hydrochar (HS-PVC) was synthesized by two-stage hydrothermal treatment (HT) and sulfonation, and shown to be a versatile adsorbent. The removal of Cu(II) cations and Cr(VI) anions using HS-PVC reached 81.2 ± 1.6% and 60.3 ± 3.8%, respectively. The first stage of HT was crucial for the dichlorination of PVC and the formation of an aromatic structure. This stage guaranteed the introduction of -SO3H onto PVC-derived hydrochar through subsequent sulfonation. HT intensities (i.e., temperature and time) and sulfonation intensity strongly determined the adsorption capacity of HS-PVC. Competitive adsorption between Cu(II) and Cr(VI) onto HS-PVC was demonstrated by binary and preloading adsorption. The proposed Cu(II) cations adsorption mechanism was electrostatic adsorption, while Cr(VI) were possibly complexed by the phenolic -OH and reduced to Cr(III) cations by C C groups in HS-PVC. In addition, HS-PVC derived from PVC waste pipes performed better than PVC powder for Cu(II) and Cr(VI) removal (＞90%). This study provides an efficient method for recycling waste PVC and production of efficient adsorbents.

The synthesis of chiral polyoxometalates (POMs) is a challenge because of the difficulty to induce the formation of intrinsically chiral metal-oxo frameworks. Herein we report the stereoselective synthesis of a series of gigantic chiral Mo Blue (MB) POM clusters 1–5 that are formed by exploiting the synergy between coordinating lanthanides ions as symmetry breakers to produce MBs with chiral frameworks decorated with amino acids ligands; these promote the selective formation of enantiopure MBs. All the compounds share the same framework archetype, based on {Mo124Ce4}, which forms an intrinsically chiral Δ or Λ configurations, controlled by the configurations of functionalized chiral amino acids. The chirality and stability of 1–5 in solution are confirmed by circular dichroism, 1H NMR, and electrospray ion mobility–mass spectrometry studies. In addition, the framework of the {Mo124Ce4} MB not only behaves as a host able to trap a chiral {Mo8} cluster that is not accessible by traditional synthesis but also promotes the transformation of tryptophan to kynurenine in situ. This work demonstrates the potential and applicability of our synthetic strategy to produce gigantic chiral POM clusters capable of host–guest chemistry and selective synthetic transformations.

Hydrothermal‐synthesis‐based reactions are normally single step owing to the difficulty of manipulating reaction mixtures at high temperatures and pressures. Herein we demonstrate a simple, cheap, and modular approach to the design reactors consisting of partitioned chambers, to achieve multi‐step synthesis under hydrothermal conditions, in digitally defined reactionware produced by 3D printing. This approach increases the number of steps that can be performed sequentially and allows an increase in the options available for the control of hydrothermal reactions. The synthetic outcomes of the multi‐stage reactions can be explored by varying reaction compositions, number of reagents, reaction steps, and reaction times, and these can be tagged to the digital blueprint. To demonstrate the potential of this approach a series of polyoxometalate (POM)‐containing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) unavailable by “one‐pot” methods were prepared as well as a set of new MOFs.

Three flywheel energy-stored impulse motor-generators (MGs) are used in the power supply system of HL-2A tokamak to produce short high-voltage or high-current pulse of desired parameters that are usually used for magnetic field coils and auxiliary heating equipment loads. The operation changing of these loads will cause disturbances in generator’s terminal voltage and the remarkable drop in MG’s rotating speed. This paper describes the implementation of an excitation controller using LabVIEW and CompactRIO for a 125-MVA impulse MG in power supply system of HL-2A/2M. Both a staged control strategy and digital PID algorithm built in LabVIEW are applied to the excitation controller that runs preciously in a 1-ms cycle to achieve voltage feedback control. The excitation controller, composed mainly of host computer and CompactRIO embedded reconfigurable system, is available to restore and stabilize terminal voltage in accordance with the desired voltage curves set by operators when pulsed loads and motor speed change quickly. It also implements real-time monitoring of the working condition and some electrical parameters of excitation system and communicates with central control system via Ethernet to either download discharge control files at time interval between two impulse discharges or upload waveform data generated in control process after a pulsed discharge. Engineering experiment results show that the use of excitation controller improves the voltage stiffness of the power supply system and provides the effective control of generator’s terminal voltage under the management of central control system.

Here, we report the site-specific incorporation of a thioester containing noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) into recombinantly expressed proteins. Specifically, we genetically encoded a thioester-activated aspartic acid (ThioD) in bacteria in good yield and with high fidelity using an orthogonal nonsense suppressor tRNA/aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) pair. To demonstrate the utility of ThioD, we used native chemical ligation to label green fluorescent protein with a fluorophore in good yield.

Understanding the process of the self-assembly of gigantic polyoxometalates and their subsequent molecular growth, by the addition of capping moieties onto the oxo-frameworks, is critical for the development of the designed assembly of complex high nuclearity cluster species, yet such processes remain far from being understood. Here we describe that the molecular growth from {Mo150} and {Mo120Ce6} to afford two half-closed gigantic molybdenum blue clusters {Mo180} (1) and {Mo130Ce6} (2), respectively. 1 features a hat-shaped structure with the parent wheel-shaped {Mo150} being capped by a {Mo30} unit on one side. Similarly, 2 exhibits an elliptical lanthanide-doped wheel {Mo120Ce6} that is sealed by a {Mo10} unit on one side. Moreover, the observation of the parent uncapped {Mo150} and {Mo120Ce6} clusters as minor products during the synthesis of 1 and 2 strongly suggests that the molecular growth process can be initialized from {Mo150} and {Mo120Ce6} in solution, respectively.

The use of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) to control the viability of an organism provides a strategy for the development of conditional "kill switches" for live vaccines or engineered human cells. We report an approach inspired by the posttranslational acetylation/deacetylation of lysine residues, in which a protein encoded by a gene with an in-frame nonsense codon at an essential lysine can be expressed in its native state only upon genetic incorporation of N-ϵ-acetyl-l-Lys (AcK), and subsequent enzymatic deacetylation in the host cell. We applied this strategy to two essential E. coli enzymes: the branched-chain aminotransferase BCAT and the DNA replication initiator protein DnaA. We also devised a barnase-based conditional suicide switch to further lower the escape frequency of the host cells. This strategy offers a number of attractive features for controlling host viability, including a single small-molecule-based kill switch, low escape frequency, and unaffected protein function.

Tyrosine phosphorylation is a common protein posttranslational modification, which plays a critical role in signal transduction and the regulation of many cellular processes. Using a pro-peptide strategy to increase cellular uptake of O-phosphotyrosine (pTyr) and its nonhydrolyzable analog 4-phosphomethyl-L-phenylalanine (Pmp), we identified an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair that allows the site-specific incorporation of both pTyr and Pmp into recombinant proteins in response to the amber stop codon in Escherichia coli in good yields. The X-ray crystal structure of the synthetase reveals a reconfigured substrate binding site formed by non-conservative mutations and substantial local structural perturbations. We demonstrate the utility of this method by introducing Pmp into a putative phosphorylation site whose corresponding kinase is unknown and determined the affinities of the individual variants for the substrate 3BP2. In summary, this work provides a useful recombinant tool to dissect the biological functions of tyrosine phosphorylation at specific sites in the proteome.

Supramolecular hydrogels based on host–guest interactions constitute a class of intriguing soft matter and have attracted great attention due to their unique properties, etc. In this paper, a new organic–inorganic hybrid based on covalently tethered adamantane onto an Anderson cluster was prepared and characterized by various techniques including single-crystal XRD and ESI-MS. Its inclusion complex with β-CD was systematically investigated by 1H NMR and ESI-MS. Radical copolymerization of the complex of Anderson–adamantane and 6-acrylamido-β-CD, and an acrylamide monomer led to the formation of supramolecular hydrogels, which were studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and rheological measurements. This work presents the successful fabrication of polyoxometalate (POM)-based hydrogels through host–guest interactions, which provides a new pathway for the development of POM-containing advanced functional soft materials.

Significance Self-replication is an important property of life, yet no one knows how it arose, and the machinery found in modern cells is far too complex to have formed by chance. One suggestion is that simple networks may become able to cooperate and hence replicate together forming autocatalytic sets, but no simple systems have been found. Here we present an inorganic autocatalytic, based on molybdenum blue, that is formed spontaneously when a simple inorganic salt of sodium molybdate is reduced under acidic conditions. This study demonstrates how autocatalytic sets, based on simple inorganic salts, can lead to the spontaneous emergence of self-replicating systems and solves the mystery of how gigantic molecular nanostructures of molybdenum blue can form in the first place., Here we show how a simple inorganic salt can spontaneously form autocatalytic sets of replicating inorganic molecules that work via molecular recognition based on the {PMo12} ≡ [PMo12O40]3– Keggin ion, and {Mo36} ≡ [H3Mo57M6(NO)6O183(H2O)18]22– cluster. These small clusters are able to catalyze their own formation via an autocatalytic network, which subsequently template the assembly of gigantic molybdenum-blue wheel {Mo154} ≡ [Mo154O462H14(H2O)70]14–, {Mo132} ≡ [MoVI72MoV60O372(CH3COO)30(H2O)72]42– ball-shaped species containing 154 and 132 molybdenum atoms, and a {PMo12}⊂{Mo124Ce4} ≡ [H16MoVI100MoV24Ce4O376(H2O)56 (PMoVI10MoV2O40)(C6H12N2O4S2)4]5– nanostructure. Kinetic investigations revealed key traits of autocatalytic systems including molecular recognition and kinetic saturation. A stochastic model confirms the presence of an autocatalytic network involving molecular recognition and assembly processes, where the larger clusters are the only products stabilized by the cycle, isolated due to a critical transition in the network.

The synthesis of anisotropic redox-active polyoxometalates (POMs) that can switch between multiple states is critical for understanding the mechanism of assembly of structures with a high aspect ratio, as well as for their application in electronic devices. However, a synthetic methodology for the controlled growth of such clusters is lacking. Here we describe a strategy, using the heteroanion-directed assembly, to produce a family of 10 multi-layered, anisotropic POM cages templated by redox-active pyramidal heteroanions with the composition [W16Mo2O54(XO3)]n−, [W21Mo3O75/76(XO3)2]m−, and [W26Mo4O93(XO3)3]o− for the double, triple, and quadruple layered clusters, respectively. It was found that the introduction of reduced molybdate is essential for self-assembly and results in mixed-metal (W/Mo) and mixed-valence (WVI/MoV) POM cages, as confirmed by an array of analytical techniques. To probe the archetype in detail, a tetrabutyl ammonium (TBA) salt derivative of a fully oxidized two-layered cage is produced as a model structure to confirm that all the cages are a statistical mixture of isostructures with variable ratios of W/Mo. Finally, it was found that multilayered POM cages exhibit dipolar relaxations due to the presence of the mixed valence WVI/MoV metal centers, demonstrating their potential use for electronic materials.

Investigations of chiral host guest chemistry are important to explore recognition in confined environments. Here, by synthesizing water-soluble chiral porous nanocapsule based on the inorganic metal-oxo Keplerate-type cluster, {Mo132} with chiral lactate ligands with the composition [Mo132O372(H2O)72(x-Lactate)30]42- (x = D or L), it was possible to study the interaction with a chiral guest, L/D-carnitine and (R/S)-2-butanol in aqueous solution. The enantioselective recognition was studied by quantitative 1H NMR and 1H DOSY NMR which highlighted that the chiral recognition is regulated by two distinct sites. Differences in the association constants (K) of L- and D-carnitine, which, due to their charge, are generally restricted from entering the interior of the host, are observed, indicating that their recognition predominantly occurs at the surface pores of the structure. Conversely, a larger difference in association constants (KS/KR = 3) is observed for recognition within the capsule interior of (R)- and (S)-2-butanol.

Template‐mediated synthesis is a powerful approach to build a variety of functional materials and complex supramolecular systems. However, the systematic study of how templates structurally evolve from basic building blocks, and then affect the templated self‐assembly, is critical to understanding and utilizing the underlying mechanism, to work towards designed assembly. Here we describe the templated self‐assembly of a series of gigantic Mo Blue (MB) clusters 1–4 using l‐ornithine as a structure‐directing ligand. We show that by using l‐ornithine as a structure director, we can form new template⊂host assemblies. Based on the structural relationship between encapsulated templates of {Mo8} (1), {Mo17} (2) and {Mo36} (4), a pathway of the structural evolution of templates is proposed. This provides insight into how gigantic Mo Blue cluster rings form and could lead to full control over the designed assembly of gigantic Mo‐blue rings.

Template synthesis is a powerful and useful approach to build a variety of functional materials and complicated supramolecular systems. Systematic study on how templates structurally evolve from basic building blocks and then affect the templated self-assembly is critical to understand the underlying mechanism and gain more guidance for designed assembly but remains challenging. Here we describe the templated self-assembly of a series of gigantic Mo Blue (MB) clusters 1-4 using L-ornithine as structure-directing agent. L-ornithine is essential for the formation of such kind of template⊂host assemblies by providing directional forces of hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. Based on the structural relationship between encapsulated templates of {Mo8} (1), {Mo17} (2) and {Mo36} (4), a plausible pathway of the structural evolution of templates is proposed, thus giving more insight on the templated self-assembly of Mo Blue clusters.

The fabrication of redox-active polyoxometalates (POMs) that can switch between multiple states is critical for their application in electronic devices, yet, a sophisticated synthetic methodology is not well developed for such cluster types. Here we describe the heteroanion-directed and reduction-driven assembly of a series of multi-layered POM cages 1-10 templated by 1-3 redox-active pyramidal heteroanions. The heteroanions greatly affect the selfassembly of the resultant POM cages, leading to the generation of unprecedented three-layered peanut-shaped - 4, 7 and 8 - or bulletshaped - 5 and 6 - structures. The introduction of reduced molybdate is essential for the self-assembly of the compounds and results in mixed-metal (W/Mo), and mixed-valence (WVI/MoV) 1-10, as confirmed by redox titration, UV-Vis-NIR, NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. 11, the tetrabutyl ammonium (TBA) salt derivative of the fully oxidized 3, is produced as a model structure for measurements to confirm that 1-10 are a statistical mixture of isostructural clusters with different ratios of W/Mo. Finally, multilayered POM cages exhibit dipole relaxations due to the presence of mixed valence WVI/MoV metal centers, demonstrating their potential uses for electronic materials.

Engineering self-templating inorganic architectures is critical for the development of bottom-up approaches to nanoscience, but systems with a hierarchy of templates are elusive. Herein we describe that the cluster-anion-templated (CAT) assembly of a {CAT}⊂{Mo24 Fe12 } macrocycle forms a giant ca. 220 nm(3) unit cell containing 16 macrocycles clustered into eight face-shared tetrahedral cluster-of-clusters assemblies. We show that {CAT}⊂{Mo24 Fe12 } with different CATs gives the compounds 1-4 for CAT=Anderson {FeMo6 } (1), Keggin {PMo12 } (2), Dawson {P2 W18 } (3), and {Mo12 O36 (HPO3 )2 } (4) polyoxometalates. "Template-free" assembly can be achieved, whereby the macrocycle components can also form a template in situ allowing template to macrocycle to superstructure formation and the ability to exchange the templates. Furthermore, the transformation of template clusters within the inorganic macrocycle {Mo24 Fe12 } allows the self-generation of an uncapped {Mo12 O36 (HPO3 )2 } in compound 4.

Thiopeptides are a subclass of ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs) with complex molecular architectures and an array of biological activities, including potent antimicrobial activity. Here we report the generation of thiopeptides containing noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) by introducing orthogonal amber suppressor aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs into a thiocillin producer strain of Bacillus cereus .We demonstrate that thiopeptide variants containing ncAAs with bioorthogonal chemical reactivity can be further postbiosynthetically modified with biophysical probes, including fluorophores and photo-cross-linkers. This work allows the site-specific incorporation of ncAAs into thiopeptides to increase their structural diversity and probe their biological activity; similar approaches can likely be applied to other classes of RiPPs.

Inspired by the high efficiency and specificity of enzymes in living systems, the development of artificial catalysts intrinsic to the key features of enzyme has emerged as an active field. Recent advances in supramolecular chemistry have shown that supramolecular coordination cages, built from non-covalent coordination bonds, offer a diverse platform for enzyme mimics. Their inherent confined cavity, analogous to the binding pocket of an enzyme, and the facile tunability of building blocks are essential for substrate recognition, transition-state stabilization, and product release. In particular, the combination of chirality with supramolecular coordination cages will undoubtedly create an asymmetric microenvironment for promoting enantioselective transformation, thus providing not only a way to make synthetically useful asymmetric catalysts, but also a model to gain a better understanding for the fundamental principles of enzymatic catalysis in a chiral environment. The focus here is on recent progress of supramolecular coordination cages for asymmetric catalysis, and based on how supramolecular coordination cages function as reaction vessels, three approaches have been demonstrated. The aim of this review is to offer researchers general guidance and insight into the rational design of sophisticated cage containers for asymmetric catalysis.

Here, we report the evolution of an orthogonal amber suppressor pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS)/tRNACUA(Pyl) pair that genetically encodes the post-translationally modified amino acid, ε-N-2-hydroxyisobutyryl-lysine (HibK), in bacteria and mammalian cells. HibK is a new type of histone mark that is widely distributed in histone proteins. The ability to site-specifically incorporate HibK into proteins provides a useful tool to probe the biological function of this newly identified post-translational modification.

Sirtuins are NAD+ dependent protein deacetylases, which are involved in many biological processes. We now report a novel genetically encoded fluorescent probe (EGFP-K85AcK) that responds to sirtuins in living cells. The probe design exploits a lysyl residue in EGFP that is essential for chromophore maturation, and is also an efficient deacetylation substrate for sirtuins. Analysis of activity in Escherichia coli ΔcobB revealed that the probe can respond to various human sirtuins, including SIRT1, SIRT2, SIRT3 and SIRT5. We also directly monitored SIRT1 and SIRT2 activity in HEK293T cells with an mCherry fusion of EGFP-K85AcK, and showed that this approach can be extended to other fluorescent proteins. Finally, we demonstrate that this approach can be used to examine the activity of sirtuins toward additional lysyl posttranslational modifications, and show that sirtuins can act as erasers of HibK modified proteins.

The discovery of new gigantic molecules formed by self‐assembly and crystal growth is challenging as it combines two contingent events; first is the formation of a new molecule, and second its crystallization. Herein, we construct a workflow that can be followed manually or by a robot to probe the envelope of both events and employ it for a new polyoxometalate cluster, Na6[Mo120Ce6O366H12(H2O)78]⋅200 H2O (1) which has a trigonal‐ring type architecture (yield 4.3 % based on Mo). Its synthesis and crystallization was probed using an active machine‐learning algorithm developed by us to explore the crystallization space, the algorithm results were compared with those obtained by human experimenters. The algorithm‐based search is able to cover ca. 9 times more crystallization space than a random search and ca. 6 times more than humans and increases the crystallization prediction accuracy to 82.4±0.7 % over 77.1±0.9 % from human experimenters.

The use of genetically encoded noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) to construct crosslinks within or between proteins has emerged as a useful method to enhance protein stability, investigate protein-protein interactions and improve the pharmacological properties of proteins. Here we report ncAAs with aryl carbamate side chains (PheK and FPheK) that can react with proximal nucleophilic residues to form intra- or intermolecular protein crosslinks. We evolved a pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase that can site-specifically incorporate PheK and FPheK into proteins in both E. coli and mammalian cells. PheK and FPheK when incorporated into proteins showed good stability during protein expression and purification; crosslinking required incubation under weakly basic condition. We demonstrated that FPheK can react with adjacent Lys, Cys and Tyr residues in thioredoxin in high yields. In addition, crosslinks could be formed between FPheK and Lys residue of two interacting proteins, including the heavy chain and light chain of an antibody Fab. The high efficiency and specificity of FPheK crosslinking may make it a practical tool to engineer proteins with unnatural covalent linkages.

We describe the synthesis, structure, self-assembly, solution chemistry, and mass spectrometry of two new gigantic decameric molybdenum blue wheels, {Mo200Ce12} (1) and {Mo100Ce6} (2), by building block rearrangement of the tetradecameric {Mo154} framework archetype and control of the architecture's curvature in solution from the addition of Ce(III). The assembly of 1 and 2 could be directed accordingly by adjusting the ionic strength and acidity of the reaction mixture. Alternatively, the dimeric cluster {Mo200Ce12} could be transformed directly to the monomeric species {Mo100Ce6} upon addition of a potassium salt. ESI-ion mobility mass spectra were successfully obtained for both {Mo200Ce12} and {Mo100Ce6}, which is the first report in molybdenum blue chemistry thereby confirming that the gigantic clusters are stable in solution and that ion mobility measurements can be used to characterize nanoscale inorganic molecules.

Inflammation is a prominent pathological feature in pulmonary arterial hypertension, as demonstrated by pulmonary vascular infiltration of inflammatory cells, including T and B lymphocytes. However, the contribution of the adaptive immune system is not well characterized in pulmonary hypertension caused by chronic hypoxia. CD4+ T cells are required for initiating and maintaining inflammation, suggesting that these cells could play an important role in the pathogenesis of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that CD4+ T cells, specifically the T helper 17 subset, contribute to chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. We compared indices of pulmonary hypertension resulting from chronic hypoxia (3 wk) in wild-type mice and recombination–activating gene 1 knockout mice (RAG1−/−, lacking mature T and B cells). Separate sets of mice were adoptively transferred with CD4+, CD8+, or T helper 17 cells before normoxic or chronic hypoxic exposure to evaluate the involvement of specific T cell subsets. RAG1−/− mice had diminished right ventricular systolic pressure and arterial remodeling compared with wild-type mice exposed to chronic hypoxia. Adoptive transfer of CD4+ but not CD8+ T cells restored the hypertensive phenotype in RAG1−/− mice. Interestingly, RAG1−/− mice receiving T helper 17 cells displayed evidence of pulmonary hypertension independent of chronic hypoxia. Supporting our hypothesis, depletion of CD4+ cells or treatment with SR1001, an inhibitor of T helper 17 cell development, prevented increased pressure and remodeling responses to chronic hypoxia. We conclude that T helper 17 cells play a key role in the development of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.

The power supply control system is one of the most important local control systems of HL-2M tokamak. The power supply system of HL-2M is composed of four flywheel generator sets with total capacity of 600 MVA, all the magnetic field coil power supplies and high voltage power supplies of auxiliary heating system. The control system of power supply should make sure the large amount of on-site equipment and facilities to operate steadily and reliably. This paper presents the architecture of HL-2M control system and four kinds of established control networks. It describes how the power supply control system is built by using the established hardware structures and software agreements. Specially, it is focused on introducing an application of real-time technology based on the reflective shared memory and the fully digital compact solution for controlling the high power converters. Otherwise, a scheme which adopts PROFINET and Sequence of Events technology to carry out the intellect interlock control system is given.