"Armor-Plating" Enzymes with Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Atomically unveiling the structure-activity relationship of biomacromolecule-metal-organic frameworks symbiotic crystal

Crystallization of biomacromolecules-metal-organic frameworks (BMOFs) allows for orderly assemble of symbiotic hybrids with desirable biological and chemical functions in one voxel. The structure-activity relationship of this symbiotic crystal, however, is still blurred. Here, we directly identify the atomic-level structure of BMOFs, using the integrated differential phase contrast-scanning transmission electron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy and x-ray absorption fine structure techniques. We discover an obvious difference in the nanoarchitecture of BMOFs under different crystallization pathways that was previously not seen. In addition, we find the nanoarchitecture significantly affects the bioactivity of the BMOFs. This work gives an important insight into the structure-activity relationship of BMOFs synthesized in different scenarios, and may act as a guide to engineer next-generation materials with excellent biological and chemical functions.

Biomolecule-metal-organic-frameworks allow for the creation of hybrid materials with desired biological and chemical function. Here, the authors refine the structure-function relationship by identifying the atomic-layer structure of the hybrids and show differences in structure upon different crystallisation pathways.

A hybrid nanobiocatalyst with in situ encapsulated enzyme and exsolved Co nanoclusters for complete chemoenzymatic conversion of methyl parathion to 4-aminophenol

Combination of enzymatic and chemical reactions provides tremendous possibilities for chemoenzymatic cascade processes. However, constructing efficient hybrid catalysts still faces great challenges. Herein, we develop a hybrid catalyst by in situ encapsulating organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) into a Zn-doped Co-based ZIF (0.8CoZIF) via biomimetic mineralization for the chemoenzymatic cascade conversion of methyl parathion to 4-nitrophenol and then 4-aminophenol. The exsolved Co nanoclusters in Zn/Co-ZIF are found to catalyze 4-nitrophenol reduction into 4-aminophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). The as-synthesized OPH@0.8CoZIF catalyzes the complete conversion of 95 μM methyl parathion at nearly 100% 4-aminophenol production in the presence of 50 mM NaBH₄ within 15 min, which is 1/4 that of the physical mixture of OPH and 0.8CoZIF, benefiting from the MP accumulation and substrate channeling in the hybrid catalyst. The maximum cascade conversion rate of MP to 4-AP reaches 8.07 μmol·min^-1·g-catalyst^-1, which is higher than most of the reported chemoenzymatic cascade catalysts. Therefore, the hybrid nanocatalyst containing Co-ZIF-based catalyst and OPH is successfully fabricated and enables to catalyze the complete conversion of a toxic pollutant like methyl parathion into a non-toxic resource like 4-aminophenol for recycling in useful chemical synthesis through efficient one-pot cascade reactions.

DNA-Templated ultrasmall bismuth sulfide nanoparticles for photoacoustic imaging of myocardial infarction

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has shown great clinical potential in diagnosing various diseases due to its noninvasive, cost-effective, and real-time imaging properties but is limited by the lack of contrast agents with high sensitivity for deep tissue imaging. Here, DNA-templated ultrasmall bismuth sulfide (Bi₂S₃) nanoparticles (NPs) were reported as a photoacoustic (PA) probe for imaging myocardial infarction. We present a simple synthesis strategy of ultrasmall NPs via self-assembly of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)/metal ion complexes. The in vivo imaging results showed a dramatically enhanced PA signal in the region of myocardial infarction after intravenous injection of DNA-Bi₂S₃ NPs in the myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) mouse model. Further near infrared fluorescence imaging indicated that Bi₂S₃ NPs mainly accumulated in the infarcted area, leading to enhancement of PA signals. Moreover, such hybrid NPs possess a well-defined nanostructure, superior photobleaching resistance, excellent water dispersibility and negligible acute toxicity. These results not only demonstrate that ultrasmall DNA-Bi₂S₃ NPs are a potent PA probe for imaging the infarcted region but also provide a new avenue for preparing ultrasmall-sized PA probes by using ssDNA as a template.

Stabilizing Enzymes in Plasmonic Silk Film for Synergistic Therapy of In Situ SERS Identified Bacteria

Increasing antibiotic resistance becomes a serious threat to public health. Photothermal therapy (PTT) and antibacterial enzyme-based therapy are promising nonresistant strategies for efficiently killing drug-resistant bacteria. However, the poor thermostability of enzymes in PTT hinders their synergistic therapy. Herein, antibacterial glucose oxidase (GOx) is embedded in a Ag graphitic nanocapsule (Ag@G) arrayed silk film to fabricate a GOx-synergistic PTT system (named silk-GOx-Ag@G, SGA). The SGA system can stabilize GOx by a vitrification process through the restriction of hydrogen bond and rigid β-sheet, and keep the antibacterial activity in the hyperthermal PTT environment. Moreover, the arrayed Ag@G possesses excellent chemical stability due to the protection of graphitic shell, providing stable plasmonic effect for integrating PTT and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis even in the GOx-produced H2 O2 environment. With in situ SERS identification of bacterial intrinsic signals in the mouse wound model, such SGA realizes superior synergistic antibacterial effect on the infected Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in vivo, while without causing significant biotoxicity. This system provides a therapeutic method with low resistance and in situ diagnosis capability for efficiently eliminating bacteria.

Confining Natural/Mimetic Enzyme Cascade in an Amorphous Metal-Organic Framework for the Construction of Recyclable Biomaterials with Catalytic Activity

Integrating nanozymes with natural enzymes to form cascade reactions is one of the most promising ways to develop biocatalysts with versatile performance; however, the applicability of the cascade is typically hampered by the instability of enzymes and the hindrance of mass transfer in the host environment. Utilizing amorphous ZIF-90 (aZIF-90) as a host material, herein, we have reported a one-pot way to encapsulate glucose oxidase (GOx) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) to form GOx/MNP@aZIF-90. We reasoned that the amorphous structure of ZIF-90 not only provides a protected environment to confine the cascade reaction but also generates mesopores and internal voids to improve the performance of the enzymatic cascade. The catalytic activity of aZIF-90 was almost 4 times higher than that of crystalline composites, and the residual activity was higher than 80% after being stored for 9 days. This is the first time that GOx and MNP were simultaneously confined in aZIF-90 with mesopores, which suggested that an amorphous metal-organic framework is promising in the development of an enzymatic cascade.

Treatment of Acute Kidney Injury Using a Dual Enzyme Embedded Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks Cascade That Catalyzes In Vivo Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging

Significant advances have been made in recent years for the utilization of natural enzymes with antioxidant properties to treat acute kidney injury (AKI). However, these enzymes have been of limited clinical utility because of their limited cellular uptake, poor pharmacokinetic properties, and suboptimal stability. We employed a novel biomimetic mineralization approach to encapsulate catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in a zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). Next, this SOD@CAT@ZIF-8 complex was anchored with MPEG₂₀₀₀-COOH to yield an MPEG₂₀₀₀-SOD@CAT@ZIF-8 (PSCZ) composite. The composite was then used as a stable tool with antioxidant properties for the integrated cascade-based treatment of AKI, remarkably improved intracellular enzyme delivery. This dual-enzyme-embedded metal-organic framework could effectively scavenge reactive oxygen species. In conclusion, the ZIF-8-based "armor plating" represents an effective means of shielding enzymes with improved therapeutic utility to guide the precision medicine-based treatment of AKI.

MOFs and PDA-supported immobilization of BSA in open tubular affinity capillary electrochromatography: Prediction and study on drug-protein interactions

Owing to the satisfactory properties such as high specific surface area, finely tunable chemical composition, large yet adjustable pore sizes, and diverse architecture, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have the potential to be used as a stable, efficient, reusable and protective biomacromolecule immobilization carrier in capillary electrophoresis. Herein, a novel immobilized receptor open-tubular affinity capillary electrochromatography (OT-ACEC) strategy was developed for the first time to rapidly investigate the interactions between a set of drugs and bovine serum albumin (BSA). To further increase the amount of immobilized BSA and maintain the bioactivity of BSA, BSA was immobilized on the inner capillary surface by using polydopamine (PDA) as the adhesion layer and surface functionalization agent, a MOF namely dresden university of technology-5 (DUT-5) as supporting platform and biomacromolecule immobilization carrier, respectively. The amount of immobilized BSA on the capillary surface of the BSA@capillary and the PDA/MOFs/BSA@capillary column are separately calculated as 0.00756 nmol and 0.01812 nmol. Besides, the PDA/MOFs/BSA@capillary column was applied to investigate the interactions between BSA and flavonoids, fluoroquinolones. Under the optimal interaction conditions, three flavonoids and three fluoroquinolones are able to achieve baseline separation in the PDA/MOFs/BSA@capillary column (with resolution values of three flavonoids, 5.78 and 4.13; three fluoroquinolones, 1.72 and 1.68). The PDA/MOFs/BSA@capillary column shows good stability and reproducibility over 100 runs (relative standard deviation (RSD)＜5%). In addition, the normalized capacity factor (K_RCE) in this method replaced the binding constant and was used as an evaluation index to fast predict the activities of 20 drugs, some of which have not yet been reported for their interactions with BSA. Spectroscopy and molecular docking further illuminated the binding mechanism.

A facile and sensitive fluorescence assay for glucose via hydrogen peroxide based on MOF-Fe catalytic oxidation of TMB

Metal-organic framework (MOF) MOF-Fe nanosols were prepared, which exhibits strongly catalysis of the new fluorescence indicator reaction of 3, 3', 5, 5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)-H₂O₂ to produce the oxidation product TMB_OX. The TMB_OX fluorescent probe has a strong fluorescence peak at 405 nm. After optimizing the various conditions for the determination of H₂O₂ system and glucose system, the linear range of fluorescence determination of H₂O₂ was 0.75-7.5 μM, and the detection limit was 0.3 μM. Since H₂O₂ is the product of glucose oxidase (GOD) catalyzed oxidation of glucose, and a simple and convenient fluorescence method was also established for glucose. The results show that the glucose concentration in the range of 0.2-20 μM has a good correlation with the fluorescence intensity, and the detection limit of glucose was 0.1 μM. This method has been used to detect the content of glucose in drinks with satisfactory results.

Biocatalytic Metal-Organic Framework: Promising Materials for Biosensing

The high-efficient and specific catalysis of enzyme allow it to recognize a myriad of substrate that impels the biosensing. Nevertheless, the fragility of natural enzymes severely restricts their practical applications. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with porous network and attractive functions have been intelligently employed as supports to encase enzymes for protecting them against hash environments. More importantly, the customizable construction and composition affords the intrinsic enzyme-like activity of some MOFs (known as nanozymes), which provides an alternative guideline to construct robust enzymes mimics. Herein, this review will introduce the concept of these biocatalytic MOFs, with the special emphasis on how the biocatalytic processes operated in these MOFs materials can reverse the plight of native enzymes-based biosensing. In addition, the present challenges and future outlooks in this research field are briefly put forward.

Fungal-Mineral Interactions Modulating Intrinsic Peroxidase-like Activity of Iron Nanoparticles: Implications for the Biogeochemical Cycles of Nutrient Elements and Attenuation of Contaminants

Fungal-mediated extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential for biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and contaminants in terrestrial environments. These ROS levels may be modulated by iron nanoparticles that possess intrinsic peroxidase (POD)-like activity (nanozymes). However, it remains largely undescribed how fungi modulate the POD-like activity of the iron nanoparticles with various crystallinities and crystal facets. Using well-controlled fungal-mineral cultivation experiments, here, we showed that fungi possessed a robust defect engineering strategy to modulate the POD-like activity of the attached iron minerals by decreasing the catalytic activity of poorly ordered ferrihydrite but enhancing that of well-crystallized hematite. The dynamics of POD-like activity were found to reside in molecular trade-offs between lattice oxygen and oxygen vacancies in the iron nanoparticles, which may be located in a cytoprotective fungal exoskeleton. Together, our findings unveil coupled POD-like activity and oxygen redox dynamics during fungal-mineral interactions, which increase the understanding of the catalytic mechanisms of POD-like nanozymes and microbial-mediated biogeochemical cycles of nutrient elements as well as the attenuation of contaminants in terrestrial environments.

Recent Advances in Nanozymes for Bacteria-Infected Wound Therapy

Bacterial-infected wounds are a serious threat to public health. Bacterial invasion can easily delay the wound healing process and even cause more serious damage. Therefore, effective new methods or drugs are needed to treat wounds. Nanozyme is an artificial enzyme that mimics the activity of a natural enzyme, and a substitute for natural enzymes by mimicking the coordination environment of the catalytic site. Due to the numerous excellent properties of nanozymes, the generation of drug-resistant bacteria can be avoided while treating bacterial infection wounds by catalyzing the sterilization mechanism of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). Notably, there are still some defects in the nanozyme antibacterial agents, and the design direction is to realize the multifunctionalization and intelligence of a single system. In this review, we first discuss the pathophysiology of bacteria infected wound healing, the formation of bacterial infection wounds, and the strategies for treating bacterially infected wounds. In addition, the antibacterial advantages and mechanism of nanozymes for bacteria-infected wounds are also described. Importantly, a series of nanomaterials based on nanozyme synthesis for the treatment of infected wounds are emphasized. Finally, the challenges and prospects of nanozymes for treating bacterial infection wounds are proposed for future research in this field.

Squalene–polyethyleneimine–dynamic constitutional frameworks enhancing the enzymatic activity of carbonic anhydrase

Carbonic anhydrase is an essential enzyme that catalyzes the hydration/dehydration of carbon dioxide, which is highly relevant to carbon capture processes. It's encapsulation in dynameric capsules enhance its activity, durability and stability.

Recent Advances in Emerging Metal- and Covalent-Organic Frameworks for Enzyme Encapsulation

Enzyme catalysis enables complex biotransformation to be imitated. This biomimetic approach allows for the application of enzymes in a variety of catalytic processes. Nevertheless, enzymes need to be shielded by a support material under challenging catalytic conditions due to their intricate and delicate structures. Specifically, metal-organic frameworks and covalent-organic frameworks (MOFs and COFs) are increasingly popular for use as enzyme-carrier platforms because of their excellent tunability in structural design as well as remarkable surface modification. These porous organic framework capsules that host enzymes not only protect the enzymes against harsh catalytic conditions but also facilitate the selective diffusion of guest molecules through the carrier. This review summarizes recent progress in MOF-enzyme and COF-enzyme composites and highlights the pore structures tuned for enzyme encapsulation. Furthermore, the critical issues associated with interactions between enzymes and pore apertures on MOF- and COF-enzyme composites are emphasized, and perspectives regarding the development of high-quality MOF and COF capsules are presented.

Silencing of Pyruvate Kinase M2 via a Metal-Organic Framework Based Theranostic Gene Nanomedicine for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Therapy

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is typically associated with poor prognosis due to its only partial response to chemotherapy and lack of clinically established targeted therapies coupled with an aggressive disease course. Aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of reprogrammed metabolic activity in cancer cells, which can be repressed by small-interfering RNA (siRNA). However, the lack of effective carriers to deliver vulnerable siRNA restricts the clinical potentials of glycolysis-based gene therapy for TNBC. Herein, we develop a tumor-targeted, biomimetic manganese dioxide (MnO2)-shrouded metal-organic framework (MOF) based nanomedicine to deliver siRNA against pyruvate kinase muscle isozyme M2 (siPKM2), wherein PKM2 is a rate-limiting enzyme in glycolysis, to inhibit the reprogrammed glycolysis of TNBC. This MOF-based genetic nanomedicine shows excellent monodispersity and stability and protects siPKM2 against degradation by nucleases. The nanomedicine not only substantially blocks the glycolytic pathway but also improves intracellular hypoxia in TNBC cells, with a resultant O2-enhanced anticancer effect. In the mice orthotopic TNBC model, the nanomedicine shows a remarkable therapeutic effect. Meanwhile, the Mn2+ ions released from acid microenvironment-responsive MnO2 enable in vivo monitoring of the therapeutic process with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our study shows great promise with this MRI-visible MOF-based nanomedicine for treating TNBC by inhibition of glycolysis via the RNA interference.

A novel biosensor based on multienzyme microcapsules constructed from covalent-organic framework

Electrochemical biosensors based on enzymes modified electrode are attracting special attention due to their broad applications. However, the immobilization of enzymes on electrode is always an important challenge because it's not conducive to conformational expansion of enzymes and affects the bioactivity of enzymes accordingly. Although the imobilization of enzymes in micropores of crystalline covalent-organic framework (COF) and metal-organic framework (MOF) to construct electrochemical biosensors based on pore embedding can achive good reuslts, their micropores can still not guarantee that the enzyme's conformation is well extended. Herein, a multienzyme microcapsules (enzymes@COF) containing glucose oxidase, horseradish peroxidase and acetylcholinesterase with a 600 nm-sized cavity and a shell of COF was used to construct electrochemical biosensors. The 600 nm-sized cavity ensures free conformation expansion of encapsulated enzymes and the shell of COF with good chemical stablity protects encapsulated enzymes against external harsh environments. And the specific catalytic substrates of the enzymes can infiltrated into the microcapsule through the pores of COF shell. So, the biosensor based on enzymes@COF microcapsules demonstrated preeminent performances as compared with those of enzymes assembled on electrode. The detection limits were 0.85 μM, 2.81 nM, 3.0×10^-13 g/L, and the detection range were 2.83 μM-8.0 mM, 9.53 nM-7.0 μM, 10^-12 g/L-10^-8 g/L for glucose, H2O2 and malathion detection. This work shows that it is feasible to fabricate electrochemical sensors using enzymes@COF microcapsules.

De Novo Approach to Encapsulating Biocatalysts into Synthetic Matrixes: From Enzymes to Microbial Electrocatalysts

Biocatalysts hold great promise in chemical and electrochemical reactions. However, biocatalysts are prone to inhospitable physiochemical conditions. Encapsulating biocatalysts into a synthetic host matrix can improve their stability and activity, and broaden their operational conditions. In this Review, we summarize the emerging de novo approaches to encapsulating biocatalysts into synthetic matrixes. Here, de novo means that embedding of biocatalysts and construction of matrixes take place simultaneously. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the de novo approach. On the basis of the nature of the biocatalysts and the synthetic frameworks, we specifically focus on two aspects: (1) encapsulation of enzymes (in vitro) in metal-organic frameworks and (2) encapsulation of microbial electrocatalysts (in vivo) on the electrode. For both cases, we discuss how the encapsulation improves biocatalysts' performance (stability, viability, activity, and etc.). We also highlight the benefit of encapsulation in facilitating the transport of charge carriers in microbial electrocatalysis.

The Encounter of Biomolecules in Metal-Organic Framework Micro/Nano Reactors

In nature, biochemical reactions often take place in confined spaces, as typically exemplified by cells. As numerous cellular reactors can be integrated to maintain the living system, researchers have made constant efforts to construct cell-like structures for achieving similar transformations in vitro. Micro/nano reactors engineered by polymers and colloids are becoming popular and being applied in many fields, especially there has been an increasing trend toward constructing metal-organic framework (MOF) micro/nano reactors with the thriving of MOF nanotechnologies. Because of the uniform pores of MOFs, the transmission of substances can be regulated more accurately. Along with properties of large specific surface area, functional diversity and precise control of the particle size, MOFs are also ideal platforms for building distinct microenvironments for biological substances. Compared with traditional polymersomes and colloidosomes, the unique characteristics of MOFs render them potent micro/nano reactor shell materials, mimicking cells for applications in enzymatic catalysis, sensing, nanotherapy, vaccine, biodegradation, etc. This review highlights recent signs of progress on the design of MOF micro/nano reactors and their applications in biology, discusses the existing problems, and prospects their promising properties for smarter multifunctional applications.

Biomimetic self-assembly of lipase-zeolitic imidazolate frameworks with enhanced biosensing of protox inhibiting herbicides

Protox inhibiting herbicides such as nitrofen have detrimental effects on the environment and human health. The current work aims to fabricate a Candida rugosa lipase (CRL)-based electrochemical sensor for rapid and sensitive detection of protox inhibiting herbicides (nitrofen). We proposed the use of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and amino-acids to promote accumulation of Zn²⁺ ions at the surfaces of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) and subsequently induce self-assembly of a CRL-zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) structure. This process can be easily and rapidly achieved via a one-pot facile self-assembly method. Steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that CRL has undergone a conformational change following encapsulation within the ZIF structure. This conformational change is beneficial as the prepared PVP/Glu/CRL@ZIF-8 exhibited enhanced catalytic activity (207% of native CRL), and higher substrate affinity (lower K_m than native CRL) and showed high stability under harsh denaturing conditions. PVP/Glu/CRL@ZIF-8 was finally used for electrochemical biosensing of nitrofen. The fabricated biosensor has a wide linear detection range (0-100 μM), a lower limit of detection and a good recovery rate.

Programmable Logic in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Catalysis

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as one of the most widely investigated materials in catalysis mainly due to their excellent component tunability, high surface area, adjustable pore size, and uniform active sites. However, the overwhelming number of MOF materials and complex structures has brought difficulties for researchers to select and construct suitable MOF-based catalysts. Herein, a programmable design strategy is presented based on metal ions/clusters, organic ligands, modifiers, functional materials, and post-treatment modules, which can be used to design the components, structures, and morphologies of MOF catalysts for different reactions. By establishing the corresponding relationship between these modules and functions, researchers can accurately and efficiently construct heterometallic MOFs, chiral MOFs, conductive MOFs, hierarchically porous MOFs, defective MOFs, MOF composites, and MOF-derivative catalysts. Further, this programmable design approach can also be used to regulate the physical/chemical microenvironments of pristine MOFs, MOF composites, and MOF-derivative materials for heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis. Finally, the challenging issues and opportunities for the future research of MOF-based catalysts are discussed. Overall, the modular design concept of this review can be applied as a potent tool for exploring the structure-activity relationships and accelerating the on-demand design of multicomponent catalysts.

Oxygen-Tolerant RAFT Polymerization Catalyzed by a Recyclable Biomimetic Mineralization Enhanced Biological Cascade System

An enzyme cascade system including glucose oxidase (GOx) and iron porphyrin (DhHP-6) is encapsulated in a metal-organic framework called zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) through one-step facile synthesis. The composite (GOx&DhHP-6@ZIF-8) is then used to initiate oxygen-tolerant reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization for different methacrylate monomers, such as 2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (M_n = 500 g mol^-1 ). The composite shows the robustness toward solvent and temperatures, all polymerizations using above monomers and catalyzing by GOx&DhHP-6@ZIF-8 exhibits high monomer conversion (>85%) and narrow molar mass dispersity (<1.3). Besides, acrylic and acrylamide monomers such as 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate and N,N-dimethylacrylamide are also carried to demonstrate the broad applicability. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance characterization and chain extension experiments confirm the retaining end groups of the resultant polymers, which is a significant feature of living polymerization. More importantly, the process of recycling the composite through a centrifuge is simplistic, and the composite still maintains similar activity compared to the original composites after five times. This low-cost and easily separated composite catalyst represents a versatile strategy to synthesize well-defined functional polymers suitable for industrial-scale production.

A Biocatalytic Cascade in an Ultrastable Mesoporous Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework for Point-of-Care Biosensing

Herein, we report the first example of using mesoporous hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (MHOFs) as the protecting scaffold to organize a biocatalytic cascade. The confined microenvironment of MHOFs has robust and large transport channels, allowing the efficient transport of a wide range of biocatalytic substrates. This new MHOF-confined cascade system shows superior activity, extended scope of catalytic substrates, and ultrahigh stability that enables the operation of complex chemical transformations in a porous carrier. In addition, the advantages of MHOF-confined cascades system for point-of-care biosensing are also demonstrated. This study highlights the advantages of HOFs as scaffold for multiple enzyme assemblies, which has huge potential for mimicking complex cellular transformation networks in a controllable manner.

Pickering-Droplet-Derived MOF Microreactors for Continuous-Flow Biocatalysis with Size Selectivity

Enzymatic microarchitectures with spatially controlled reactivity, engineered molecular sieving ability, favorable interior environment, and industrial productivity show great potential in synthetic protocellular systems and practical biotechnology, but their construction remains a significant challenge. Here, we proposed a Pickering emulsion interface-directed synthesis method to fabricate such a microreactor, in which a robust and defect-free MOF layer was grown around silica emulsifier stabilized droplet surfaces. The compartmentalized interior droplets can provide a biomimetic microenvironment to host free enzymes, while the outer MOF layer secludes active species from the surroundings and endows the microreactor with size-selective permeability. Impressively, the thus-designed enzymatic microreactor exhibited excellent size selectivity and long-term stability, as demonstrated by a 1000 h continuous-flow reaction, while affording completely equal enantioselectivities to the free enzyme counterpart. Moreover, the catalytic efficiency of such enzymatic microreactors was conveniently regulated through engineering of the type or thickness of the outer MOF layer or interior environments for the enzymes, highlighting their superior customized specialties. This study provides new opportunities in designing MOF-based artificial cellular microreactors for practical applications.

Decorated traditional cellulose with nanoscale chiral metal-organic frameworks for enhanced enantioselective capture

Herein, a rapid approach toward the size/morphology-controlled synthesis of [Cu(L-mal)(bipy)·2H₂O] (CuLBH) was developed by adjusting the concentrations of 2-methylimidazole (2-MI) and copper ions. The chiral separation efficiency test indicated that the nano-diameter CuLBH exhibited better selective potential towards (±)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethanol (NE) by providing more fully exposed recognition sites. In order to further improve the selectivity for NE enantiomers and avoid the aggregation of MOF nanoparticles, the nanosized CuLBH-decorated carboxylated cellulose (CC) composite CC-CuLBH was designed by controlling the ratio of the solvent and Cu²⁺, which exhibited much higher enantioselectivity than those of pristine CC and even nano CuLBH.

Hybrid Porous Crystalline Materials from Metal Organic Frameworks and Covalent Organic Frameworks

Two frontier crystalline porous framework materials, namely, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), have been widely explored owing to their outstanding physicochemical properties. While each type of framework has its own intrinsic advantages and shortcomings for specific applications, combining the complementary properties of the two materials allows the engineering of new classes of hybrid porous crystalline materials with properties superior to the individual components. Since the first report of MOF/COF hybrid in 2016, it has rapidly evolved as a novel platform for diverse applications. The state-of-art advances in the various synthetic approaches of MOF/COF hybrids are hereby summarized, together with their applications in different areas. Perspectives on the main challenges and future opportunities are also offered in order to inspire a multidisciplinary effort toward the further development of chemically diverse, multi-functional hybrid porous crystalline materials.

Fine-Tuning the Micro-Environment to Optimize the Catalytic Activity of Enzymes Immobilized in Multivariate Metal-Organic Frameworks

The artificial engineering of an enzyme's structural conformation to enhance its activity is highly desired and challenging. Anisotropic reticular chemistry, best illustrated in the case of multivariate metal-organic frameworks (MTV-MOFs), provides a platform to modify a MOF's pore and inner-surface with functionality variations on frameworks to optimize the interior environment and to enhance the specifically targeted property. In this study, we altered the functionality and ratio of linkers in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), a subclass of MOFs, with the MTV approach to demonstrate a strategy that allows us to optimize the activity of the encapsulated enzyme by continuously tuning the framework-enzyme interaction through the hydrophilicity change in the pores' microenvironment. To systematically study this interaction, we developed the component-adjustment-ternary plot (CAT) method to approach the optimal activity of the encapsulated enzyme BCL and revealed a nonlinear correlation, first incremental and then decremental, between the BCL activity and the hydrophilic linker' ratios in MTV-ZIF-8. These findings indicated there is a spatial arrangement of functional groups along the three-dimensional space across the ZIF-8 crystal with a unique sequence that could change the enzyme structure between closed-lid and open-lid conformations. These conformation changes were confirmed by FTIR spectra and fluorescence studies. The optimized BCL@ZIF-8 is not only thermally and chemically more stable than free BCL in solution, but also doubles the catalytic reactivity in the kinetic resolution reaction with 99% ee of the products.

Specific Screening of Prostate Cancer Individuals Using an Enzyme-Assisted Substrate Sensing Platform Based on Hierarchical MOFs with Tunable Mesopore Size

Rapid and specific identification of tumor metabolic markers is of great significance. Herein, a convenient, reliable and specific strategy was proposed to screen prostate cancer (PCa) individuals through indirectly quantifying sarcosine, an early indicator of PCa, in the clinical urine samples. The success roots in the rational design of a cascade response model, which takes integrated sarcosine oxidase (SOX) as a specific recognition unit and oxygen-sensitive molecule as a signal reporter. The newly developed hierarchical mesoporous Zr-based metal-organic frameworks with continuously tunable mesopore size ensure the synergetic work of the SOX and response unit spatially separated in their neighboring mesoporous and microporous domains, respectively. The large mesopore up to 12.1 nm not only greatly enhances the loading capacity of SOX but also spares enough space for the free diffusion of sarcosine. On this basis, the probe is competent to specifically check out the tiny concentration change of sarcosine in the urine sample between PCa patients and healthy humans. Such a concept of enzyme-assisted substrate sensing could be simply extended by altering the type of immobilized enzymes, hopefully setting a guideline for the rational design of multiple probes to quantify specific biomarkers in complex biological samples.

A petal-shaped MOF assembled with a gold nanocage and urate oxidase used as an artificial enzyme nanohybrid for tandem catalysis and dual-channel biosensing

A facile one-pot precipitation method was employed to prepare a petal-shaped hybrid under mild conditions. The hybrid is composed of urate oxidase (UOx) encapsulated into a zeolite-like metal-organic framework (MOF) with the doping of a hollow gold nanocage (AuNC). As one of the MOF-enzyme composites, a UOx@MOF(AuNC) hybrid with the features of artificial nanoenzymes was developed as a novel dual-channel biosensing platform for fluorescence (FL) and electrochemical detection of uric acid (UA). As for FL biosensing, enzymatic catalysis of the hybrid in the presence of UA triggered tandem catalysis and oxidation reactions to cause FL quenching. UA was linearly detected in the 0.1-10 μM and 10-300 μM ranges, with the limit of detection (LOD) of 20 nM. As for electrochemical biosensing, the hybrid was dropped on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface to construct a hybrid/GCE platform. Based on the redox reaction of UA on the platform surface, UA was linearly detected in the 0.05-55 μM range, with a LOD of 15 nM. Experimental results confirmed that the hybrid-based dual-channel biosensing platform enabled selective and sensitive responses to UA over potential interferents. The platform has an excellent detection capability in physiological samples. The dual-channel biosensing platform facilitates the exploration of new bioanalysis techniques for early clinical diagnosis of diseases.

Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Versatile Materials Platform for Unlocking New Potentials in Biocatalysis

Biocatalysts immobilization with nanomaterials has promoted the development of biocatalysis significantly and made it an indispensable part of catalysis industries nowadays. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), constructed from organic linkers and metal ions or clusters, have raised significant interests for biocatalysts immobilization in recent years. The diversity of building units, molecular-scale tunability, and modular synthetic routes of MOFs greatly expand its ability as the host to integrate with biocatalysts. In this review, the general synthetic strategies of MOFs with biocatalysts are first summarized. Then, the recent progress of MOFs as a versatile host for a series of biocatalysts, including natural enzymes, nanozymes, and organism-based biocatalysts, followed by the introduction of MOFs themselves as biocatalysts, is discussed. Furthermore, the stimuli-responsive properties of MOFs themselves or the additional functionalization of protein, polymer, and peptide within/on MOF that enable the biocatalysts with the controllable and tunable behavior are also summarized, which could unlock new potentials in biocatalysis. Finally, a perspective of the upcoming challenges, potential impacts, and future directions of biocatalytic MOFs is provided.

Biocatalytic Nanomaterials: A New Pathway for Bacterial Disinfection

Clinical treatment of pathogenic infection has emerged as a growing challenge in global public health. Such treatment is currently limited to antibiotics, but abuse of antibiotics have induced multidrug resistance and high fatality rates in anti-infection therapies. Thus, it is vital to develop alternative bactericidal agents to open novel disinfection pathways. Drawing inspiration from elements of the human immune system that show great potential for controlling pathogens or regulating cell apoptosis, the design of biocatalytic nanomaterials (BCNs) have provided unrivaled opportunities for future antibacterial therapies. More significantly, BCNs exhibit various superior properties to immune cells and natural enzymes, such as higher biocatalytic performance, extraordinary stability against harsh conditions, and scalable production. In this review, the most recent efforts toward developing BCN-based biomedical applications in combating bacterial infections are focused upon. BCNs' antibacterial mechanisms, the classification of BCNs, antibacterial activities that can be triggered or augmented by energy conversion, and the eradication of biofilms with BCNs are systematically introduced and discussed. The current challenges and prospects of BCNs for biocatalytic disinfection are also summarized. It is anticipated this review will provide new therapeutic insights into combating bacteria and biofilms and offer significant new inspiration for designing future biocatalytic nanomaterials.

Biohybrid Systems for Improved Bioinspired, Energy-Relevant Catalysis

Biomimetic catalysts, ranging from small-molecule metal complexes to supramolecular assembles, possess many exciting properties that could address salient challenges in industrial-scale manufacturing. Inspired by natural enzymes, these biohybrid catalytic systems demonstrate superior characteristics, including high activity, enantioselectivity, and enhanced aqueous solubility, over their fully synthetic counterparts. However, instability and limitations in the prediction of structure-function relationships are major drawbacks that often prevent the application of biomimetic catalysts outside of the laboratory. Despite these obstacles, recent advances in synthetic enzyme models have improved our understanding of complicated biological enzymatic processes and enabled the production of catalysts with increased efficiency. This review outlines important developments and future prospects for the design and application of bioinspired and biohybrid systems at multiple length scales for important, biologically relevant, clean energy transformations.

Enhancing bio-catalytic performance of lipase immobilized on ionic liquids modified magnetic polydopamine

In this study, imidazolium-based ionic liquid with [tf₂N]^- as the anion was successfully grafted to magnetic polydopamine nanoparticles (MPDA). The prepared materials were well characterized and used as supports for lipase immobilization. The immobilized lipase (PPL-ILs-MPDA) exhibited excellent activity and stability. The specific activity of PPL-ILs-MPDA was 2.15 and 1.49 folds higher than that of free PPL and PPL-MPDA. In addition, after 10 rounds of reuse, the residual activity of PPL-ILs-MPDA was 86.2 % higher than that of PPL-MPDA (75.4 %). Furthermore, the kinetic assay indicated that the affinity between PPL-ILs-MPDA and substrate had increased. Analysis of the secondary structure using circular dichroism was used to explain the mechanism underlying the improvement in the performance of PPL-ILs-MPDA. In addition, the immobilized lipase can be easily separated from the reaction system with a magnet. The observations regarding the development of new supports for lipase immobilization may provide new ideas regarding further studies in this field.

Cucurbituril-Encapsulating Metal-Organic Framework via Mechanochemistry: Adsorbents with Enhanced Performance

The first examples of monolithic crystalline host-guest hybrid materials are described. The reaction of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H3 BTC) and Fe(NO3 )3 ⋅9 H2 O in the presence of decamethylcucurbit[5]uril ammonium chloride (MC5⋅2 NH4 Cl⋅4 H2 O) directly affords MC5@MIL-100(Fe) hybrid monoliths featuring hierarchical micro-, meso- and macropores. Particularly, this "bottle-around-ship" synthesis and one-pot shaping are facilitated by a newly discovered Fe-MC5 flowing gel formed by mechanochemistry. The designed MC5@MIL-100(Fe) hybrid material with MC5 as active domains shows enhanced CH4 and lead(II) uptake performance, and selective capture of lead(II) cations at low concentrations. This shows that host-guest hybrid materials can exhibit synergic properties that out-perform materials based on individual components.

Study on controllable enzymolysis by chiral capillary electrophoresis with an ultraviolet-visible responsive polymer membrane based l-asparaginase reactor

Stimuli-responsive polymer enzyme reactors have become a major area of research interest, from their fundamental aspects to applications in bio-living science. However, the polymer materials, that enable the controllable enzymolysis based on ultraviolet-visible (UV)-responsive properties, have remained unexplored. Herein, an enzyme reactor was fabricated by immobilization of l-asparaginase on an UV-responsive porous polymer membrane (UV-PPMER), which consisted of poly(styrene-maleicanhydride-4-[(4-methacryloyloxy)phenylazo]benzoic acid) [P(St-MAn-MPABA)], and explored its controllable enzymolysis. By controlling the "on/off" switch of 365 nm UV irradiation, the configuration of polymer membrane surface changed to improve and tune the enzymolysis. Using l-asparagine (L-Asn) as the substrate, the enzymatic efficiency of the UV-PPMER was evaluated by a chiral capillary electrophoresis technique. Upon UV irradiation, the PMPABA moiety in the membrane changed from a trans- to a cisconfiguration and encapsulated the enzyme and substrate into a narrow cavity, further improving the enzymatic efficiency due to the confinement effect. It was found that the enzymatic reaction rate with the UV-PPMER under UV irradiation (13.3 mM min^-1) was 4.5 times higher than that of UV irradiation was off (2.94 mM min^-1). Additionally, the low cytotoxicity and excellent UV-responsivity of UV-PPMER were verified in the living cells and serum samples.

Stabilization of an enzyme cytochrome c in a metal-organic framework against denaturing organic solvents

Enzymes are promising catalysts with high selectivity and activity under mild reaction conditions. However, their practical application has largely been hindered by their high cost and poor stability. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as host materials show potential in protecting proteins against denaturing conditions, but a systematic study investigating the stabilizing mechanism is still lacking. In this study, we stabilized enzyme cytochrome c (cyt c) by encapsulating it in a hierarchical mesoporous zirconium-based MOF, NU-1000 against denaturing organic solvents. Cyt c@NU-1000 showed a significantly enhanced activity compared to the native enzyme, and the composite retained this enhanced activity after treatment with five denaturing organic solvents. Moreover, the composite was recyclable without activity loss for at least three cycles. Our cyt c@NU-1000 model system demonstrates that enzyme@MOF composites prepared via post-synthetic encapsulation offer a promising route to overcome the challenges of enzyme stability and recyclability that impede the widespread adoption of biocatalysis.

Design of Switchable Enzyme Carriers Based on Stimuli-Responsive Porous Polymer Membranes for Bioapplications

Design of efficient enzyme carriers, where enzymes are conjugated to supports, has become an attractive research avenue. Immobilized enzymes are advantageous for practical applications because of their convenience in handling, ease of separation, and good reusability. However, the main challenge is that these traditional enzyme carriers are unable to regulate the enzymolysis efficiency or to protect the enzymes from proteolytic degradation, which restricts their effectiveness of enzymes in bioapplications. Enlightened by the stimuli-responsive channels in the natural cell membranes, conjugation of the enzymes within flat-sheet stimuli-responsive porous polymer membranes (SR-PPMs) as artificial cell membranes is an efficient strategy for circumventing this challenge. Controlled by the external stimuli, the multifunctional polymer chains, which are incorporated within the membranes and attached to the enzyme, change their structures to defend the enzyme from the external environmental disturbances and degradation by proteinases. Specifically, smart SR-PPM enzyme carriers (SR-PPMECs) not only permit convective substrate transfer through the accessible porous network, dramatically improving enzymolysis efficiency due to the adjustable pore sizes and the confinement effect, but they also act as molecular switches for regulating its permeability and selectivity. In this review, the concept of SR-PPMECs is presented. It covers the latest developments in design strategies of flat-sheet SR-PPFMs, fabrication protocols of SR-PPFMECs, strategies for the regulation of enzymolysis efficiency, and their cutting-edge bioapplications.

Metal-Organic Frameworks Enhance Biomimetic Cascade Catalysis for Biosensing

Multiple enzymes-induced biological cascade catalysis guides efficient and selective substrate transformations in vivo. The biomimetic cascade systems, as ingenious strategies for signal transduction and amplification, have a wide range of applications in biosensing. However, the fragile nature of enzymes greatly limits their wide applications. In this regard, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with porous structures, unique nano/microenvironments, and good biocompatibility have been skillfully used as carriers to immobilize enzymes for shielding them against hash surroundings and improving the catalytic efficiency. For another, nanomaterials with enzyme-like properties and brilliant stabilities (nanozymes), have been widely applied to ameliorate the low stability of the enzymes. Inheriting the abovementioned merits of MOFs, the performances of MOFs-immboilized nanozymes could be significantly enhanced. Furthermore, in addition to carriers, some MOFs can also serve as nanozymes, expanding their applications in cascade systems. Herein, recent advances in the fabrication of efficient MOFs-involving enzymes/nanozymes cascade systems and biosensing applications are highlighted. Integrating diversified signal output modes, including colorimetry, electrochemistry, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering, sensitive detection of various targets (including biological molecules, environmental pollutants, enzyme activities, and so on) are realized. Finally, challenges and opportunities about further constructions and applications of MOFs-involving cascade reaction systems are briefly put forward.

Performance Fabrics Obtained by In Situ Growth of Metal-Organic Frameworks in Electrospun Fibers

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit an exceptional surface area-to-volume ratio, variable pore sizes, and selective binding, and hence, there is an ongoing effort to advance their processability for broadening their utilization in different applications. In this work, we demonstrate a general scheme for fabricating freestanding MOF-embedded polymeric fibers, in which the fibers themselves act as microreactors for the in situ growth of the MOF crystals. The MOF-embedded fibers are obtained via a two-step process, in which, initially, polymer solutions containing the MOF precursors are electrospun to obtain microfibers, and then, the growth of MOF crystals is initiated and performed via antisolvent-induced crystallization. Using this approach, we demonstrate the fabrication of composite microfibers containing two types of MOFs: copper (II) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (HKUST-1) and zinc (II) 2-methylimidazole (ZIF-8). The MOF crystals grow from the fiber's core toward its outer rims, leading to exposed MOF crystals that are well rooted within the polymer matrix. The MOF fibers obtained using this method can reach lengths of hundreds of meters and exhibit mechanical strength that allows arranging them into dense, flexible, and highly durable nonwoven meshes. We also examined the use of the MOF fiber meshes for the immobilization of the enzymes catalase and horse radish peroxidase (HRP), and the enzyme-MOF fabrics exhibit improved performance. The MOF-embedded fibers, demonstrated in this work, hold promise for different applications including separation of specific chemical species, selective catalysis, and sensing and pave the way to new MOF-containing performance fabrics and active membranes.

Silica Capsules Templated from Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enzyme Immobilization and Catalysis

Inspired by the unique biological microenvironments of eukaryotic cells, hollow capsules are promising to immobilize enzymes due to their advantages for physical protection and improved activity of enzymes. Herein, we report a facile method to fabricate silica (SiO₂) capsules using zeolitic imidazole framework-8 nanoparticles (ZIF-8 NPs) as templates for enzyme immobilization and catalysis. Enzyme-encapsulated SiO₂ capsules are obtained by encapsulation of enzymes in ZIF-8 NPs and subsequent coating of silica layers, followed by the removal of templates in a mild condition (i.e., ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution). The enzyme (i.e., horseradish peroxidase, HRP) activity in SiO₂ capsules is improved more than 15 times compared to that of enzyme-loaded ZIF-8 NPs. Enzymes in SiO₂ capsules maintain a high relative activity after being subjected to high temperature, enzymolysis, and recycling compared to free enzymes. In addition, multienzymes (e.g., glucose oxidase and HRP) can also be coencapsulated within SiO₂ capsules to show a reaction with a high cascade catalytic efficacy. This work provides a versatile strategy for enzyme immobilization and protection with potential applications in biocatalysis.