Lightening Up Membrane Receptors with Fluorescent Molecular Probes and Supramolecular Materials

Abstract

Membrane receptors, among other membrane proteins that universally exist on the cell surface, are a class of important macromolecules responsible for cellsignaling processes. They are activated or inhibited through selective binding with endogenous ligand molecules. These binding activities are implicated in physiologic as well as pathologic events if errors in signaling interactions occur. The thorough understanding of receptor-ligand recognition is of paramount importance for fundamental biological studies and, in particular, could improve the precision of disease diagnosis and therapy. However, current techniques capable of tracking the dynamic actions of membrane receptors are elusive. This review highlights our recent progress in the development of fluorescent probes and supramolecular materials for receptor-targeting biosensing and bioimaging. Strategies in probe construction and the practical biomedical applications that have been achieved are discussed. Perspectives and challenges with respect to this interdisciplinary field are offered.

A three-dimensional ratiometric sensing strategy on unimolecular fluorescence–thermally activated delayed fluorescence dual emission

“…Fluorescent sensors continue to attract attention on account of their visualization ability and high sensitivity in detecting signals 1–3 . They can be applied in local microenvironments for monitoring the behavior of surrounding targets in various chemical and biological processes 4,5 , like charging cellular functional proteins 6 and membrane systems 7 . Although the past decades have witnessed a significant progress in design and development of typical donor–acceptor based π-structures with alterable fluorescence signals and ability to sense local environmental change 8 , a large majority of these fluorescent sensors work simply through the responsive variation of a single emission signal 9 .…”

Multivalent Glycosheets for Double Light–Driven Therapy of Multidrug‐Resistant Bacteria on Wounds

“…After centrifugation, the thin‐layer glycosheets (Gal‐sheet and Fuc‐sheet, which contain galactose‐ and fucose‐functionalized molecular layers, respectively) were obtained and used for antimicrobial assays. The molecular self‐assembly enables the multivalent display of the carbohydrate epitopes on the surface of MoS 2 , thereby enhancing their binding avidity with the lectins on the surface of bacteria, facilitating the subsequent light‐driven bacterial killing (Figure b).…”

Emerging Applications of Nanotechnology for Controlling Cell‐Surface Receptor Clustering

“…[1] In many cases,s elective receptor-ligand recognition is the initial step for activating cellular function and defining cell fate. [2] At the nanoscale,the spatial organization of cell surface receptors plays pivotal role in controlling cellular signaling cascades. [3] Many cell behaviors (such as cell adhesion, spreading,growth, and migration) are known to be regulated by the clustering of cell surface receptors.…”