Cytoprotective Encapsulation of Individual Jurkat T Cells within Durable TiO2 Shells for T‐Cell Therapy

Lymphocytes, such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, have therapeutic promise in adoptive cell transfer (ACT) therapy, where the cells are activated and expanded in vitro and then infused into a patient. However, the in vitro preservation of labile lymphocytes during transfer, manipulation, and storage has been one of the bottlenecks in the development and commercialization of therapeutic lymphocytes. Herein, we suggest a cell‐in‐shell (or artificial spore) strategy to enhance the cell viability in the practical settings, while maintaining biological activities for therapeutic efficacy. A durable titanium oxide (TiO₂) shell is formed on individual Jurkat T cells, and the CD3 and other antigens on cell surfaces remain accessible to the antibodies. Interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) secretion is also not hampered by the shell formation. This work suggests a chemical toolbox for effectively preserving lymphocytes in vitro and developing the lymphocyte‐based cancer immunotherapy.     

Enzyme‐Modulated Anaerobic Encapsulation of Chlorella Cells Allows Switching from O2 to H2 Production

Single‐cell encapsulation has become an effective strategy in cell surface engineering; however, the construction of cell wall‐like layers that allow the switching of the inherent functionality of the engineered cell is still rare. In this study, we show a universal way to create an enzyme‐modulated oxygen‐consuming sandwich‐like layer by using polydopamine, laccase, and tannic acid as building blocks, which then could generate an anaerobic microenvironment around the cell. This layer protected the encapsulated C. pyrenoidosa cell against external stresses and enabled it to switch from normal photosynthetic O₂ production to photobiological H₂ production. The layer showed an smaller effect on the PSII activity, which contributed a significant enhancement on the rate (0.32 μmol H₂ h^?1 (mg chlorophyll)^?1) and the duration (7 d) of H₂ production. This strategy is expected to provide a pathway for modulating the functionality of cells and for breakthroughs in the development of green energy alternatives.     

Self‐Healing,Expansion–Contraction,and Shape‐Memory Properties of a Preorganized Supramolecular Hydrogel through Host–Guest Interactions

Supramolecular materials cross‐linked between polymer chains by noncovalent bonds have the potential to provide dynamic functions that are not produced by covalently cross‐linked polymeric materials. We focused on the formation of supramolecular polymeric materials through host–guest interactions: a powerful method for the creation of nonconventional materials. We employed two different kinds of host–guest inclusion complexes of β‐cyclodextrin (βCD) with adamantane (Ad) and ferrocene (Fc) to bind polymers together to form a supramolecular hydrogel (βCD‐Ad‐Fc gel). The βCD‐Ad‐Fc gel showed self‐healing ability when damaged and responded to redox stimuli by expansion or contraction. Moreover, the βCD‐Ad‐Fc gel showed a redox‐responsive shape‐morphing effect. We thus succeeded in deriving three functions from the introduction of two kinds of functional units into a supramolecular material.     

Ethanol‐Precipitable,Silica‐Passivated Perovskite Nanocrystals Incorporated into Polystyrene Microspheres for Long‐Term Storage and Reusage

Perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are emerging luminescent materials due to their fascinating physic‐optical properties. However, their sensitive surface chemistry with organic polar solvents, oxygen, and moisture greatly hinders their developments towards practical applications. Herein we promote silica‐passivated PNCs (SP‐PNCs) by in situ hydrolyzing the surface ligands of (3‐aminopropyl) triethoxysilane. The resultant SP‐PNCs possesses a high quantum yield (QY) of 80 % and are precipitable by polar solvents, such as ethanol and acetone, without destroying their surface chemistry or losing QY, which offers an eco‐friendly and efficient method for separation, purification, and phase transfer of PNCs. Moreover, we further promoted a swelling–deswelling encapsulation process to incorporate the as‐made SP‐PNCs into non‐crosslinked polystyrene microspheres (PMs), which can largely increase the stability of the SP‐PNCs against moisture for long‐term storage.     

Concise Synthesis of Open‐Cage Fullerenes for Oxygen Delivery

Open‐cage fullerenes with a 19‐membered orifice were prepared in three steps from C₆₀. The key step for cage‐opening is aniline mediated ring expansion of a fullerene‐mixed peroxide with a ketolactone moiety on the orifice. Release of ring strain on the spherical fullerene cage served as the main driving force for the efficient cage‐opening sequence. Encapsulation of oxygen could be achieved at room temperature under moderate pressure (50 atm) and the encapsulated oxygen could be released slowly under ambient conditions. The activation energy of the oxygen‐releasing process is 18.8 kcal mol^?1 and the half‐life at 37 °C was 73 min, which makes this open‐cage fullerene derivative a potential oxygen‐delivery material.     

Dark Photocatalysis: Storage of Solar Energy in Carbon Nitride for Time‐Delayed Hydrogen Generation

While natural photosynthesis serves as the model system for efficient charge separation and decoupling of redox reactions, bio‐inspired artificial systems typically lack applicability owing to synthetic challenges and structural complexity. We present herein a simple and inexpensive system that, under solar irradiation, forms highly reductive radicals in the presence of an electron donor, with lifetimes exceeding the diurnal cycle. This radical species is formed within a cyanamide‐functionalized polymeric network of heptazine units and can give off its trapped electrons in the dark to yield H₂, triggered by a co‐catalyst, thus enabling the temporal decoupling of the light and dark reactions of photocatalytic hydrogen production through the radical′s longevity. The system introduced here thus demonstrates a new approach for storing sunlight as long‐lived radicals, and provides the structural basis for designing photocatalysts with long‐lived photo‐induced states.     

Self‐Assembly of Giant Spherical Liquid‐Crystalline Complexes and Formation of Nanostructured Dynamic Gels that Exhibit Self‐Healing Properties

Supramolecular self‐assembly of 24 forklike mesogenic ligands and 12 transition metal ions led to the formation of giant spherical coordination complexes that exhibit liquid‐crystalline (LC) phases. Self‐healing LC supramolecular gels were also obtained through the introduction of these LC nanostructured supramolecular giant spherical complexes into dynamic covalent networks formed by cross‐linkers and bifunctional polymers. The giant spherical structures of the Pd^II complexes with 72 rodlike moieties on the periphery were characterized by NMR, diffusion‐ordered NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. These complexes are stable and exhibit lyotropic LC behavior, while the mesogenic ligands show thermotropic LC properties. The self‐assembled LC structures of the spherical complexes can be tuned by the length of the rodlike moieties.