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Multifunctional molecular switches have attracted much attention because of their unique stimulus response behavior and advanced applications. However, precise regulation of the structure for property enrichment is still a great challenge. Herein, the first case of a single‐molecule switch BN‐S with multiple structurally tunable and full‐color fluorescent properties is reported. Interestingly, BN‐S exhibits a butterfly‐like "metamorphosis" crystal growth process accompanied by full‐color fluorescence emission (including white light, CIE = 0.33, 0.33; 456 nm → 610 nm). It is shown that this is related to the reversible B←N bonding and the tunability of the spatial structure of the BN‐S. Thus, BN‐S exhibits superior multicolor tunability in different states (solid, liquid, and film), and its applications in white‐light optical light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and multicolor fluorescent inks also show great promise. This will provide a new strategy for designing and synthesizing the development of multifunctional molecular switching materials and enriching the variety of organoboron luminescent materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The nuclear factor Y (NF‐Y) transcription factors play important roles in plant development and physiological responses. However, the relationship between NF‐Y, plant hormone and plant stress resistance in tropical crops remains unclear. In this study, we identified MeNF‐YC15 gene in the NF‐Y family that significantly responded to Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) treatment. Using MeNF‐YC15‐silenced and ‐overexpressed cassava plants, we elucidated that MeNF‐YC15 positively regulated disease resistance to cassava bacterial blight (CBB). Notably, we illustrated MeNF‐YC15 downstream genes and revealed the direct genetic relationship between MeNF‐YC15 and 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid (ACC) oxidase (MeACO1)‐ethylene module in disease resistance, as evidenced by the rescued disease susceptibility of MeNF‐YC15 silenced cassava plants with ethylene treatment or overexpressing MeACO1. In addition, the physical interaction between 2C‐type protein phosphatase 1 (MePP2C1) and MeNF‐YC15 inhibited the transcriptional activation of MeACO1 by MeNF‐YC15. In summary, MePP2C1‐MeNF‐YC15 interaction modulates ethylene biosynthesis and cassava disease resistance, providing gene network for cassava genetic improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As information messengers for cell‐to‐cell communication, exosomes, typically small membrane vesicles (30–150 nm), play an imperative role in the physiological and pathological processes of living systems. Accumulating studies have demonstrated that exosomes are potential biological candidates for theranostics, including liquid biopsy‐based diagnosis and drug delivery. However, their clinical applications are hindered by several issues, especially their unspecific detection and insufficient targeting ability. How to upgrade the accuracy of exosome‐based theranostics is being widely explored. Aptamers, benefitting from their admirable characteristics, are used as excellent molecular recognition elements to empower exosomes for precision theranostics. With high affinity against targets and easy site‐specific modification, aptamers can be incorporated with platforms for the specific detection of exosomes, thus providing opportunities for advancing disease diagnostics. Furthermore, aptamers can be tailored and functionalized on exosomes to enable targeted therapeutics. Herein, this review emphasizes the empowering of exosomes by aptamers for precision theranostics. A brief introduction of exosomes and aptamers is provided, followed by a discussion of recent progress in aptamer‐based exosome detection for disease diagnosis, and the emerging applications of aptamer‐functionalized exosomes for targeted therapeutics. Finally, current challenges and opportunities in this research field are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminescent materials with multiple emission centers are attracting more and more attentions due to their potential applications in multicolor displays, polychromatic imaging, information encryption, and ratiometric chemical sensing. Organic molecules with phosphorescence behavior at room temperature (RTP) provide idea candidate for constructing luminescent materials with multiple emission centers, which show great potentials for application in ratiometric chemical sensing owing to its long‐lived emission and high signal‐to‐noise ratio. However, developing RTP materials with multiple emission centers and their application in aqueous solutions remains a huge challenge. Herein, two chromophore isomers (p‐N‐DPC·(PF6)2 and m‐N‐DPC·(PF6)2) based on carbazole and naphthalene units are prepared by using pyridine quaternary ammonium salt as link to improve their solubility in water and form electron deficient centers to facilitate charge transfer (CT). p‐N‐DPC·(PF6)2 displayed multiple emissions behavior, including monomer fluorescence, dimer fluorescence, monomer phosphorescence, dimer phosphorescence, and CT phosphorescence. Especially, p‐N‐DPC·(PF6)2 exhibits monomer fluorescence, dimer fluorescence, and CT phosphorescence in an aqueous solution, which is successfully applied as self‐calibrated dual ratio luminescent sensor for phosphate detection. This study not only provides a strategy to construct luminophore with multiple emissions but also develops a fluorescence/ phosphorescence dual ratio luminescent sensor in an aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoactivated dynamic ultralong room‐temperature phosphorescent (PAD‐URTP) materials with changing emission colors are attractive and meaningful but are rarely reported. Herein, a one‐pot heat treatment strategy for embedding 1‐hydroxy‐2‐naphthoic acid (1H2NA) and 2‐hydroxy‐1‐naphthoic acid (2H1NA) into boric acid (BA) matrix (named 1H2NA@BA and 2H1NA@BA) to construct PAD‐URTP materials is developed, which exhibits rapid and reversible photoactivated phosphorescence, as well as photo‐stimulated dynamic change of luminescence color. The luminescent color of 1H2NA@BA could continuously change from blue‐purple to bright cyan‐white upon prolonged 365 nm UV light irradiation, which is attributed to the combined effect of static blue fluorescence and dynamic photoactivated green phosphorescence. Significantly, it could emit over 10 s green afterglow after switching off the UV irradiation. The combination of experiment and theoretical calculation results reveal that their PAD‐URTP behavior is attributed to the energy accumulation of triplet states under UV light irradiation. Finally, a series of information encryption and a complete story of "a mouse and cake" are successfully fabricated by using 1H2NA@BA with other luminescence materials. Thus, this study demonstrates fast PAD‐URTP materials with dynamic color‐changing luminescence and opens up new possibilities as the photo‐responsive luminescent material for further mechanistic understanding and future application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic radical luminescent materials have attracted worldwide attention because of their absolute spin‐allowed radiative transition and sensitivity to the environment, which give it multiple stimulus response properties. Nowadays, how to regulate and utilize the sensitivity of radicals has become a hot and difficult issue. Here, arylphosphonium bromide salts are introduced into the molecular backbone of naphthimide (NMI) using an intramolecular counterion strategy, and prepared a novel multifunctional stabilized radical luminescent: TPP‐o‐3OMe‐NMI‐Br. Interestingly, this molecule exhibits different assembly modes in different solvents, resulting in the generation of two crystals with different fluorescence (green: G‐C; orange–yellow: Y‐C), in which the Y‐C crystalline powder exhibits excellent stabilization properties for doublet and triplet excitons, which induce the emission of orange–yellow radical afterglow, and exhibits multi‐stimuli responsiveness to external pressure (P), temperature (T) and water (W). Moreover, interesting time‐dependent photoactivated colorful fluorescence and orange–yellow radical afterglow can be observed in TPP‐o‐3OMe‐NMI‐Br@PMMA films with different doping ratios and exhibit multi‐color tunability, multiple stimulus responses, multiple data encryption, and optical information erase/write behavior. This study not only broadens the types and applications of organic radical long afterglow materials but also provides new ideas for designing new organic "chameleon" luminescent materials in the field of smart luminescence materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular profiling of protein markers on small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) is a promising strategy for the precise detection and classification of ovarian cancers. However, this strategy is challenging owing to the lack of simple and practical detection methods. In this work, using an aptamer‐based nanoflow cytometry (nFCM) detection strategy, a simple and rapid method for the molecular profiling of multiple protein markers on sEVs was developed. The protein markers can be easily labeled with aptamer probes and then rapidly profiled by nFCM. Seven cancer‐associated protein markers, including CA125, STIP1, CD24, EpCAM, EGFR, MUC1, and HER2, on plasma sEVs were profiled for the molecular detection and classification of ovarian cancers. Profiling these seven protein markers enabled the precise detection of ovarian cancer with a high accuracy of 94.2 %. In addition, combined with machine learning algorithms, such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and random forest (RF), the molecular classifications of ovarian cancer cell lines and subtypes were achieved with overall accuracies of 82.9 % and 55.4 %, respectively. Therefore, this simple, rapid, and non‐invasive method exhibited considerable potential for the auxiliary diagnosis and molecular classification of ovarian cancers in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial arrangement of molecules plays a crucial role in determining the macroscopic properties of functional materials. Coordinated polymers (CPs) formed by self‐assembly of organic isomeric ligands and metals offer unique performance characteristics. In this study, we present the investigation of a one‐dimensional CP, named CIT‐E, composed of tetraphenylethene pyridine derivative (TPE‐2by‐2‐E) ligands and copper iodide. The resulting CP exhibits a one‐dimensional bead chain structure with exceptional thermal and chemical stability. By leveraging the competitive absorption between CIT‐E and the explosive analog 2,4‐dinitroaniline, we achieve detection of the explosive through changes in the absorption intensity of the excitation light source and subsequent fluorescence response. The CP demonstrates high selectivity and anti‐interference ability in detecting 2,4‐dinitroaniline in aqueous solution, with a detection linear range of 0.1 to 300 μM and a detection limit of 0.05 μM, surpassing the national third‐level emission standard. These findings highlight the potential of CP CIT‐E as a promising material for the detection of explosive nitroaromatic compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citrus is an important source of flavonoids in our daily diet. Citrus flavonoids have antioxidant, anticancer, anti‐inflammatory, and cardiovascular disease prevention functions. Studies have shown that some pharmaceutical values of flavonoids may be related to their binding to bitter taste receptors, thus activating downstream signal transduction pathways; however, the underlying mechanism has not been systematically elucidated. In this paper, the biosynthesis pathway and the absorption and metabolism of citrus flavonoids were briefly reviewed, and the relationship between flavonoid structure and bitter taste intensity was investigated. In addition, the pharmacological effects of bitter flavonoids and the activation of bitter taste receptors in combating various diseases were discussed. This review provides an important basis for the targeted design of citrus flavonoid structures to make them more biologically active and more attractive as powerful drugs for the effective treatment of chronic diseases such as obesity, asthma, and neurological diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aptamers are emerging as promising molecular tools in cancer‐targeted theranostics. Improving their in vivo stability has been a critical issue in promoting clinical translation, but such efforts could lead to more serious side effects resulting from prolonged retention in healthy organs. To address this problem, we developed an environment‐responsive stabilization strategy for the selective enhancement of aptamer biostability in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Briefly, by means of the end extension of an ATP‐responsive protection (ARP) module, the designed aptamer could be protected from nuclease degradation through the specific incorporation of ATP. Based on our in vivo results, this ARP‐aptamer probe was effectively accumulated in tumors via aptamer‐based molecular recognition. It showed selectively prolonged tumor retention time, but rapid digestion in healthy organs. Our strategy should provide a new paradigm for the development of organ‐specific nucleic acid‐based imaging and therapeutic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melatonin is an important molecule in both animals and plants, regulating circadian rhythms and stress responses. Therefore, the improvement of melatonin accumulation not only strengthens the function of melatonin but also improves stress resistance in crops. Although melatonin biosynthetic enzymes have been identified through reverse genetics previously, an investigation of melatonin level‐related genes through forward genetics in plants has yet to be performed. In this study, a genome‐wide association study using cassava natural population of 298 genetic resources identified melatonin accumulation 1 (MA1), which regulates the natural variation of melatonin levels in cassava. We found that MA1 encodes type 2C protein phosphatase 1 (PP2C1), which serves as a negative regulator of melatonin levels in cassava. MePP2C1 physically interacts with MeRAV1/2 and MeWRKY20 and dephosphorylates them at serine (S) 35 residue, S34 residue, and S176 residue, respectively, thereby hindering their transcriptional activation on downstream melatonin biosynthetic genes. Notably, MePP2C1 interacts with phytomelatonin receptor MePMTR1 and dephosphorylates it at S11 residue, repressing its binding to melatonin. In summary, this study demonstrates that MePP2C1 as MA1 plays dual roles in negatively regulating both melatonin accumulation and signaling, extending the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying melatonin accumulation and signaling through forward genetics in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology of nanomaterials (geometric shape and dimension) play a significant role in its various physical and chemical properties. Thus, it is essential to link morphology with performance in specific applications. For this purpose, the morphology of copper metal–organic polyhedra (Cu‐MOP) can be modulated through distinct assembly process, which facilitates the exploration of the relationship between morphology and catalytic performance. In this work, the assemblies of Cu‐MOP with three different morphologies (nanorods, nanofibers and nanosheets) were facilely prepared by the variation of solvent mixture of N, N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) and methanol, revealed the important role of the interaction between the surface group and the solvent on the morphology of these assemblies. Cu‐MOP nanofibers exhibited the highest mimetic peroxidase enzyme activity over the Cu‐MOP nanosheets and nanorods, which have been utilized in the detection of glucose. Cu‐MOPs assemblies with tunable morphology accompanied with adjustable mimic peroxidase activity, had great potential applications in the field of bioanalytical chemistry and biomedicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple bromine and cyanogen substituents positional isomeric 9‐phenyl‐9H‐carbazole (PhCz) donor–acceptor system (namely p‐NN‐Br and m‐NN‐Br) displays ultralong organic phosphorescence, and exhibits unique dual emission properties (fluorescence and phosphorescence). These molecules are found to display distinct responses toward multiple external stimuli including temperature (T), excitation light intensity (I) and pressure (P), and show multicolor tunable behaviors (including the white light, the Commission Internationale d'Eclairage (CIE) = 0.33, 0.34). The unique stimuli‐triggered proportion between singlet and triplet excitons for p‐NN‐Br and m‐NN‐Br is demonstrated systematically by investigating the photophysical spectrum, scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging and X‐ray analysis, coupled with theoretical calculations. They reveal that the simultaneous introduction of halogens (Br) and pseudohalogens (CN) to the PhCz skeleton can improve the intermolecular interaction and thermal stability. Single crystal analysis shows that there are many more types of dimers and J‐aggregates, thereby stabilizing the excitation of triplet states. Moreover, these isomers have "latent" fingerprint recognition and anti‐background interference performance, which is expected to provide a new method for fingerprint identification. All in all, this strategy paves the way to a multifunctional platform for the development of multi‐stimuli responsive, multicolor regulation and smart luminescent materials with long‐lived emission at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently emerging perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) have drawn considerable attention due to the superior optoelectronic performances. However, the terrible stability of red emissive PNCs (r‐PNCs) limits their broader application in aqueous media. Despite various encapsulation methods are proposed, the preparation of aqueous r‐PNCs with facile operation and excellent durability is still challenging. Herein, aqueous green emissive PNCs (g‐PNCs) by employing water as an external stimulus to treat oleyamine‐capped CsPbBr3 PNCs are synthesized initially, and then aqueous‐stable pure red emissive PNCs by anion‐exchange reaction and subsequently thiocyanate (SCN‐) passivation treatment (SCN‐r‐PNCs) are prepared. The obtained aqueous‐stable SCN‐r‐PNCs display high brightness, outstanding stability, and extended photoluminescence lifetime. Moreover, by combining aqueous r‐PNCs and portable smartphones, a fluorescence chemosensor for the detection of aqueous SCN− ions is constructed, which exhibits simple operation, high sensitivity, high selectivity, low detection limit, and visualized sensing. This work not only provides a new and facile strategy to prepare aqueous‐stable red emissive PNCs, but also further extends the application of red emissive PNCs in aqueous‐based fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]