Kuoran Xing

Antigen presentation within solid tumours presents a significant clinical challenge for systemic immune activation. Although radiotherapy or chemotherapy can generate tumour antigens by destroying tumour cells, the insufficient number and impaired function of dendritic cells within solid tumours compromises effective antigen presentation. Here we present plant-derived nanoparticles coated with nanohydroxyapatite that promote dendritic cell activation and amplify the production of dendritic-cell-derived antigen-presenting vesicles in vivo through the modulation of intracellular immune conversion and calcium signalling. The technology, termed the intratumoural generation of immunopresentation vesicles after tumour exposure, enabled a dramatic enhancement in antigen presentation within lymph nodes and, consequently, boosted systemic immune response, exhibiting superior antitumour efficacy in multiple solid tumour models when combined with radiotherapy. This strategy of amplifying immunoreactive nanovesicle production in vivo may serve as a promising immunopotentiating platform, advancing various cancer treatments.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as promising circulating biomarkers for liquid biopsy due to their abundant molecular information, such as proteins, nucleic acids, and metabolites. However, the metabolic profiling of EVs remains largely unexplored, much less exploiting their intrinsic metabolic features for disease diagnosis. In this study, we demonstrate that the metabolic-related inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity of macrophage-derived EVs serves as an effective biomarker for phenotypic profiling and further evaluating lung inflammation. By integrating a cascade amplification strategy that combines the biocatalysis of EV iNOS activity with the electrocatalysis of defective tungsten disulfide quantum dots (WS ₂ QDs), we develop an ACTIVITY (Amplified Cascade-catalysis TestIng for VesIcular meTabolic activitY) method for rapid assaying of metabolically active EVs. When applied to bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples, this activity-based EV profiling differentiates pneumonia patients from healthy controls and further facilitates the monitoring of disease treatment, suggesting the potential of EV metabolic activity for diagnostics.

The geometric chirality of nanoscale materials originates from the asymmetric structures of the enantiomeric molecules. Herein, we introduce a universal strategy for fabricating in situ-synthesized Au nanostructures (issAu) on biological substrates using a simple staining solution of Au precursors, surfactant, and reductant. As a proof-of-concept, we integrated this staining reaction into bacterial systems, achieving the oriented growth of issAu on organism skeletons. With the involvement of exogenous cysteine enantiomers in the staining solution, enantiomeric molecules contribute to anisotropic growth of branched issAu and the evolution of plasmonic chirality. Through reaction optimization, we successfully engineer chiral issAu onto bacteria, constructing these nanobioheterostructures as versatile, bacterium-derived nanomaterials. The simple and rapid staining method based on chiral issAu growth solutions facilitates the in situ plasmonic engineering of pathogenic bacteria, enabling optical microscopy imaging of individual microbes. Our protocol provides an approach for the chiral nanoengineering of biological entities and exhibits high potential in antimicrobial and bioanalytical applications.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are critical mediators of intercellular communication, carrying bioactive cargo and displaying diverse surface components that reflect their cellular origins and functions. The EV surface, composed of proteins, lipids, and glycocalyx elements, plays a pivotal role in targeting recipient cells, mediating biological interactions, and enabling selective cargo delivery. This review comprehensively examined the molecular architecture of EV surfaces, linking their biogenesis to functional diversity, and highlights their therapeutic and diagnostic potential in diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disorders. Additionally, we explore emerging applications of EVs, including machine-learning-assisted analysis, chemical integration, and cross-system combinations. The review also discusses some key challenges in the clinical translation of EV-related technologies.

The ever-growing use of nature-derived materials creates exciting opportunities for novel development in various therapeutic biomedical applications. Living cells, serving as the foundation of nanoarchitectonics, exhibit remarkable capabilities that enable the development of bioinspired and biomimetic systems, which will be explored in this review. To understand the foundation of this development, we first revisited the anatomy of cells to explore the characteristics of the building blocks of life that is relevant. Interestingly, animal cells have amazing capabilities due to the inherent functionalities in each specialized cell type. Notably, the versatility of cell membranes allows red blood cells and neutrophils’ membranes to cloak inorganic nanoparticles that would naturally be eliminated by the immune system. This underscores how cell membranes facilitate interactions with the surroundings through recognition, targeting, signalling, exchange, and cargo attachment. The functionality of cell membrane-coated nanoparticles can be tailored and improved by strategically engineering the membrane, selecting from a variety of cell membranes with known distinct inherent properties. On the other hand, plant cells exhibit remarkable capabilities for synthesizing various nanoparticles. They play a role in the synthesis of metal, carbon-based, and polymer nanoparticles, used for applications such as antimicrobials or antioxidants. One of the versatile components in plant cells is found in the photosynthetic system, particularly the thylakoid, and the pigment chlorophyll. While there are challenges in consistently synthesizing these remarkable nanoparticles derived from nature, this exploration begins to unveil the endless possibilities in nanoarchitectonics research.