Multicolor Circularly Polarized Luminescence of a Single-Component System Revealing Multiple Information Encryption

Metal-free materials with multicolor tunable circularly polarized luminescence(CPL)are attractive because of their potential applications in information storage and encryption.Here,we designed two enantiomers composed of chiral dialkyl glutamides and achiral vibration-induced emission(VIE)moiety,which can switch on CPL after a simple gelation process.It is noteworthy that the CPL colors vary in different solvents,and this is attributed to various self-assembly-induced microstructures,in which the VIE moiety is restrained to different degrees.Accordingly,a multidimensional code system composed of a quick response code,a ultraviolet(UV)light-activated color code,and a CPL information figure was constructed.To our satisfaction,the system possesses multiple information-storage functions.The orthogonal anticounterfeiting and CPLenhanced encryption functions also improve the system information encryption ability.In brief,this study provides a practical example of CPL applied to information security and an effective approach to obtain a single-component color-tunable CPL material with multiple information storage and encryption functions as well.

Construction of a Homogeneous Enzyme-Free Autocatalytic Nucleic Acid Machinery for High-Performance Intracellular Imaging of MicroRNA

Enzyme-free autocatalytic nucleic acidmachinery has been widely used to engineer various self-assembled nanostructures as well as high-performance bioanalysis,yet has rarely been realized in live cells for complicated design,low robustness,and limited reliability.Herein,we constructed simple yet versatile enthalpy-driven autocatalytic hybridization chain reaction(AHCR)machinery with high reliability and robustness for in situ microRNA analysis in live cells.The homogeneous AHCR machine was composed of two differently designed HCR modules,the lead-in HCR-1 amplification module,and the reverse HCR-2 feedback module.After the AHCR amplification system was delivered into live cells,target microRNA stimulated the autonomous cross-invasion of the HCR-1 module and the HCR-2 module for assembling hyperbranched dsDNA nanostructures with synergistically amplified Förster resonance energy transfer readout,thus enabling accurate intracellular micro-RNA imaging.The synergistic AHCR execution was systematically investigated by a series of experimental studies and computer-aided theoretical simulations.The multiple recognition capacity of HCR constituents and the successive signal amplification of the AHCR machine enabled the accurate intracellular microRNA imaging with precise signal localization inside living cells.Based on its intriguing and modular design,the AHCR machinery can be extended for analyzing diverse biomarkers,thus supplementing a powerful toolbox for clinical diagnosis and therapeutic assessment.

Functional DNA Structures and Their Biomedical Applications

Since the discovery of the double-helix structure in 1953,nucleic acids have been developed from natural genetic codes into functional building blocks in a wide range of biotechnology and materials sciences.Taking advantage of their design diversity and biocompatibility,functional nucleic acids facilitate the“bottom-up”fabrication of nanomaterials that are highly potential for molecular medicine to treat different diseases,such as cancers.The present perspective article introduces recent advances in the use of these unique properties of nucleic acid biopolymers for biomedical applications.Specifically,nanomaterial/nucleic acid hybrid structures for sensing,controlled drug release,programmable intracellular imaging,and apoptosis,as well as logic calculation,are discussed.Furthermore,the detailed operation for both extracellular and intracellular bioactivity regulation with these new design functional nucleic acid nanostructures are fully illustrated.