After the last epidemic of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in Brazil that peaked in 2016, growing evidence has been demonstrated of the link between this teratogenic flavivirus and microcephaly cases. However, no vaccine or antiviral drug has been approved yet. ZIKV and Dengue viruses (DENV) entry to the host cell takes place through several receptors, including dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN), so that the blockade of this receptor through multivalent glycoconjugates supposes a promising biological target to inhibit the infection process. In order to get enhanced multivalency in biocompatible systems, tridecafullerenes appended with up to 360 1,2-mannobiosides have been synthesized using a strain-promoted cycloaddition of azides to alkynes (SPAAC) strategy. These systems have been tested against ZIKV and DENV infection, showing an outstanding activity in the picomolar range.

Antimicrobial resistance is a recognized global challenge. Tools for bacterial detection can combat antimicrobial resistance by facilitating evidence-based antibiotic prescribing, thus avoiding their overprescription, which contributes to the spread of resistance. Unfortunately, traditional culture-based identification methods take at least a day, while emerging alternatives are limited by high cost and a requirement for skilled operators. Moreover, photodynamic inactivation of bacteria promoted by photosensitisers could be considered as one of the most promising strategies in the fight against multidrug resistance pathogens. In this context, carbon dots (CDs) have been identified as a promising class of photosensitiser nanomaterials for the specific detection and inactivation of different bacterial species. CDs possess exceptional and tuneable chemical and photoelectric properties that make them excellent candidates for antibacterial theranostic applications, such as great chemical stability, high water solubility, low toxicity and excellent biocompatibility. In this review, we will summarize the most recent advances on the use of CDs as antimicrobial agents, including the most commonly used methodologies for CD and CD/composites syntheses and their antibacterial properties in both in vitro and in vivo models developed in the last 3 years.

SWCNTs, MWCNTs, and SWCNHs have been employed as virus-mimicking nanocarbon platforms for the multivalent presentation of carbohydrates in an artificial Ebola virus infection model assay. These carbon nanoforms have been chemically modified by the covalent attachment of glycodendrons and glycofullerenes using the CuAAC "click chemistry" approach. This modification dramatically increases the water solubility of these structurally different nanocarbons. Their efficiency in blocking DC-SIGN-mediated viral infection by an artificial Ebola virus has been tested in a cellular experimental assay, finding that glycoconjugates based on MWCNTs functionalized with glycofullerenes are potent inhibitors of viral infection.

An effective specific immunotherapy should contain elements to generate specific recognition (T-cell peptides) and to modulate the immunological response towards a Th1/Treg pattern by enhancing dendritic cells (DCs). We propose a novel sublingual immunotherapy for peach allergy, using systems, that combine Prup3-T-cell peptides with mannose dendrons (D1ManPrup3 and D4ManPrup3). Peach anaphylactic mice were treated 1, 2 and 5 nM concentrations. Tolerance was assessed one/five weeks after finishing treatment by determining in vivo/in vitro parameters after challenge with Prup3. Only mice receiving D1ManPrup3 at 2 nM were protected from anaphylaxis (no temperature changes, decrease in Prup3-sIgE and -sIgG1 antibody levels, and secreting cells) compared to PBS-treated mice. Moreover, an increase of Treg-cells and regulatory cytokines (IL-10+/IFN-γ+) in CD4+-T-cells and DCs were found. These changes were maintained at least five weeks after stopping treatment. D1ManPrup3 is an effective new approach of immunotherapy inducing protection from anaphylaxis which persists after finishing treatment.

α(1,2)mannobiosides with different substituents at the reducing end have been synthesized by a common strategy using benzoyls as the permanent protecting groups and an acetyl as the orthogonal protecting group at position C2 of the glycosyl acceptor. The new synthetic strategy has been performed remarkably reducing the number of purification steps, the time of synthesis (less than 72 hours) and improving the overall yield at least three times with respect to the best procedure described in the literature at the moment. Additionally, this protecting group strategy is compatible with the presence of azido groups and the use of Cu catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) also called "click chemistry" for conjugating the α(1-2)mannobiosides to different scaffolds for the preparation of mannosyl multivalent systems.

The development of chemosensors to detect analytes in biologically relevant solutions is a challenging task. We report the synthesis of a fluorescent receptor that combines vibration-induced emission (VIE) and dynamic covalent chemistry for the detection of glucose in aqueous media. We show that the bis-2-(N-methylaminomethyl)phenylboronic acid-decorated N,N'-diphenyl-dihydrodibenzo[a,c]phenazine (DPAC) receptor 1 can detect glucose and discriminate between closely related monosaccharides including those commonly found in blood. Preliminary studies suggest monosaccharides bind to the DPAC-receptor with a 1:1 stoichiometry to produce pseudomacrocyclic complexes, which in turn leads to distinct optical changes in the fluorescent emission of the receptor for each host. Moreover, the complexationinduced change in emission can be detected visually and quantified in a ratiometric way. Our results highlight the potential of VIE-type receptors for the quantitative determination of saccharides in biological samples.

A pyridinium-decorated photoresponsive dithienylethene selectively targets G-quadruplex DNA, allowing binding mode and toxicity to be controlled exclusively with visible light.

D Prup3+CpG represents a promising SIT for food allergy. It is easily synthesized and induces protection from anaphylaxis to Pru p 3 that is maintained for at least three weeks.