Fermi level-tuned optics of graphene for attocoulomb-scale quantification of electron transfer at single gold nanoparticles

Operando Spectroscopic Elucidation of the Bubble Sunshade Effect in Inorganic-Biological Hybrids for Photosynthetic Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen production by photosynthetic hybrid systems (PBSs) offers a promising avenue for renewable energy. However, the light-harvesting efficiency of PBSs remains constrained due to unclear intracellular kinetic factors. Here, we present an operando elucidation of the sluggish light-harvesting behavior for existing PBSs and strategies to circumvent them. By quantifying the spectral shift in the structural color scattering of individual PBSs during the photosynthetic process, we observe the accumulation of product hydrogen bubbles on their outer membrane. These bubbles act as a sunshade and inhibit light absorption. This phenomenon elucidates the intrinsic constraints on the light-harvesting efficiency of PBSs. The introduction of a tension eliminator into the PBSs effectively improves the bubble sunshade effect and results in a 4.5-fold increase in the light-harvesting efficiency. This work provides valuable insights into the dynamics of transmembrane transport gas products and holds the potential to inspire innovative designs for improving the light-harvesting efficiency of PBSs.

Acoustofluidic manipulation for submicron to nanoparticles

Particles, ranging from submicron to nanometer scale, can be broadly categorized into biological and non-biological types. Submicron-to-nanoscale bioparticles include various bacteria, viruses, liposomes, and exosomes. Non-biological particles cover various inorganic, metallic, and carbon-based particles. The effective manipulation of these submicron to nanoparticles, including their separation, sorting, enrichment, assembly, trapping, and transport, is a fundamental requirement for different applications. Acoustofluidics, owing to their distinct advantages, have emerged as a potent tool for nanoparticle manipulation over the past decade. Although recent literature reviews have encapsulated the evolution of acoustofluidic technology, there is a paucity of reports specifically addressing the acoustical manipulation of submicron to nanoparticles. This article endeavors to provide a comprehensive study of this topic, delving into the principles, apparatus, and merits of acoustofluidic manipulation of submicron to nanoparticles, and discussing the state-of-the-art developments in this technology. The discourse commences with an introduction to the fundamental theory of acoustofluidic control and the forces involved in nanoparticle manipulation. Subsequently, the working mechanism of acoustofluidic manipulation of submicron to nanoparticles is dissected into two parts, dominated by the acoustic wave field and the acoustic streaming field. A critical analysis of the advantages and limitations of different acoustofluidic platforms in nanoparticles control is presented. The article concludes with a summary of the challenges acoustofluidics face in the realm of nanoparticle manipulation and analysis, and a forecast of future development prospects.

High Dynamic Range Probing of Single-Molecule Mechanical Force Transitions at Cell-Matrix Adhesion Bonds by a Plasmonic Tension Nanosensor

Mechanical signals in animal tissues are complex and rapidly changed, and how the force transduction emerges from the single-cell adhesion bonds remains unclear. DNA-based molecular tension sensors (MTS), albeit successful in cellular force probing, were restricted by their detection range and temporal resolution. Here, we introduced a plasmonic tension nanosensor (PTNS) to make straight progress toward these shortcomings. Contrary to the fluorescence-based MTS that only has specific force response thresholds, PTNS enabled the continuous and reversible force measurement from 1.1 to 48 pN with millisecond temporal resolution. We used the PTNS to visualize the high dynamic range single-molecule force transitions at cell-matrix adhesions during adhesion formation and migration. Time-resolved force traces revealed that the lifetime and duration of stepwise force transitions of molecular clutches are strongly modulated by the traction force through filamentous actin. The force probing technique is sensitive, fast, and robust and constitutes a potential tool for single-molecule and single-cell biophysics.

In Vivo Voltammetric Imaging of Metal Nanoparticle-Catalyzed Single-Cell Electron Transfer by Fermi Level-Responsive Graphene

Metal nanomaterials can facilitate microbial extracellular electron transfer (EET) in the electrochemically active biofilm. However, the role of nanomaterials/bacteria interaction in this process is still unclear. Here, we reported the single-cell voltammetric imaging of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 at the single-cell level to elucidate the metal-enhanced EET mechanism in vivo by the Fermi level-responsive graphene electrode. Quantified oxidation currents of ~20 fA were observed from single native cells and gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-coated cells in linear sweep voltammetry analysis. On the contrary, the oxidation potential was reduced by up to 100 mV after AuNP modification. It revealed the mechanism of AuNP-catalyzed direct EET decreasing the oxidation barrier between the outer membrane cytochromes and the electrode. Our method offered a promising strategy to understand the nanomaterials/bacteria interaction and guide the rational construction of EET-related microbial fuel cells.

Thermal Stability and Kinetics of Single I2@ZIF-8 Particles

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is a key material characterization method for studying the thermal stability and thermochemical process. However, the common TGA for bulk samples lacks sufficient spatial information, which blurs the intrinsic thermal decomposition characteristic and limits the understanding of the structure-performance relationship. Here, we report a dark-field microscope (DFM) method for studying thermal desorption process of I₂ from I₂-loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (I₂@ZIF-8). Because of the high spatial resolution, DFM enables the imaging and tracking of the local mass loss of I₂ in single I₂@ZIF-8 particles at different reaction temperatures. We obtain from the DFM images the single-particle thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric curves to evaluate the inherent thermal stability of single I₂@ZIF-8 particles. We also find the heterogeneous thermal decomposition property among different I₂@ZIF-8 particles. Furthermore, we demonstrate the capacity of DFM to quantitatively determine thermal kinetics parameters such as the diffusion coefficient and activation energy of I₂ in individual and multiple ZIF-8 particles. These useful results are essential for developing high-efficient porous adsorbents for the capture of I₂.

Super-Resolution Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Microscopy for Single-Nanocatalyst Imaging

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence microscopy (ECLM) provides a real-time imaging approach to visualize the surface-dependent catalytic activity of nanocatalysts, which helps to rationalize the design of catalysts. In this study, we first propose super-resolution ECLM that could measure the facet- and site-specific activities of a single nanoparticle with nanometer resolution. The stochastic nature of the ECL emission makes the generation of photons obey Poisson statistics, which fits the requirement of super-resolution radial fluctuation (SRRF). By processing an SRRF algorithm, the spatial resolution of ECL images achieved ca. 100 nm, providing more abundant details on electrocatalytic reactivities at the subparticle level. Beyond conventional wide-field ECL imaging, super-resolution ECLM provided the spatial distribution of catalytic activities at a Au nanorod and nanoplate with scales of a few hundred nanometers. It helped uncover the facet- and defect-dependent surface activity, as well as the dynamic fluctuation of reactivity patterns on single nanoparticles. The super-resolution ECLM provides high spatiotemporal resolution, which shows great potential in the field of catalysis, biological imaging, and single-entity analysis.

Label-Free Probing of Electron Transfer Kinetics of Single Microbial Cells on a Single-Layer Graphene via Structural Color Microscopy

Studies of electron transfer at the population level veil the nature of the cell itself; however, in situ probing of the electron transfer dynamics of individual cells is still challenging. Here we propose label-free structural color microscopy for this aim. We demonstrate that Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 cells show unique structural color scattering, changing with the redox state of cytochrome complexes in the outer membrane. It enables quantitatively and noninvasive studies of electron transfer in single microbial cells during bioelectrochemical activities, such as extracellular electron transfer (EET) on a transparent single-layer graphene electrode. Increasing the applied potential leads to the associated EET current, accompanied by more oxidized cytochromes. The high spatiotemporal resolution of the proposed method not only demonstrates the large diversity in EET activity among microbial cells but also reveals the subcellular asymmetric distribution of active cytochromes in a single cell. We anticipate that it provides a potential platform for further exploring the electron transfer mechanism of subcellular structure.

Amplification of oxidative stress with lycorine and gold-based nanocomposites for synergistic cascade cancer therapy

BACKGROUND

Despite advances of surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy during the past few decades, the therapeutic efficacy of current therapeutic protocol for osteosarcoma (OS) is still seriously compromised by multi-drug resistance and severe side effects. Amplification of intracellular oxidative stress is considered as an effective strategy to induce cancer cell death. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel strategy that can amplify the intracellular oxidative stress for synergistic cascade cancer therapy.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A novel nanocomposite, composed of folic acid (FA) modified mesoporous silica-coated gold nanostar (GNS@MSNs-FA) and traditional Chinese medicine lycorine (Ly), was rationally designed and developed. Under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, the obtained GNS@MSNs-FA/Ly could promote a high level of ROS production via inducing mitochondrial dysfunction and potent endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Moreover, glutathione (GSH) depletion during ER stress could reduce ROS scavenging and further enable efficient amplification of intracellular oxidative stress. Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that GNS@MSNs-FA/Ly coupled with NIR irradiation exhibited excellent antitumor efficacy without noticeable toxicity in MNNG/HOS tumor-bearing mice.

CONCLUSION

All these results demonstrated that GNS@MSNs-FA/Ly coupled with NIR irradiation could dramatically amplify the intra-tumoral oxidative stress, exhibiting excellent antitumor ability without obvious systemic toxicity. Taken together, this promising strategy provides a new avenue for the effective cancer synergetic therapy and future clinical translation.

In Situ Visualizing Oxidase-Mimicking Activity of Single MnOOH Nanotubes with Mie Scattering-Based Absorption Microscopy

Imaging the catalytic activity at the single-particle level can greatly promote the screening and rational design of highly efficient nanozymes, but conventional techniques are based on ensemble analysis. Here, we present a new absorption microscopy for in situ visualizing oxidase-mimicking activity of single MnOOH nanotubes. The particle with a size more than 700 nm roughly equally scatters all wavelengths of visible light via Mie scattering, and the scattering light is collected by dark-field optical microscopy. When the particles absorb a single color of the scattering light, each individual nanoparticle shows its complementary color, enabling a form of absorption microscopy that we name Mie scattering-based absorption microscopy. We find that MnOOH nanotubes can catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate polyTMB nanowires at their tips. There are multiple active sites on the surface of the individual nanotube, and the nanozyme activity shows a large heterogeneity as well as pH-dependent characteristic.