Themed collection Celebrating the 65th birthday of Professor Santanu Bhattacharya

Asish Pal, Praveen Kumar Vemula and Shyni Varghese introduce the Nanoscale themed collection, Celebrating the 65th birthday of Professor Santanu Bhattacharya.

This review summarizes the significant recent progress in AAV capsid engineering strategies, with a particular focus on chemical modifications in advancing the next generation of AAV-based gene therapies.

Different extracellular matrix mimicking hydrogels exist, ranging from fully natural to synthetic to hybrid versions. Herein, supramolecular hydrogels are emerging due to their inherent dynamics, modularity and orthogonal control over properties.

Theranostic nanogels are indispensable modular platforms that enable a combined approach to therapy and diagnostics to address challenges in the treatment of complex and dynamic diseases such as cancer.

Nanoarchitectonics may be highly compatible with applications in biological systems. Construction strategies and functions of bio-gel nanoarchitectonics in medical applications and tissue engineering are discussed.

This review extensively explores immunomodulatory nanomedicines, focusing on their unique properties and critical design strategies for interacting with immune components for various therapeutic applications.

This review summarizes how aptamers (chemical antibodies) at the molecular level propel the advancement of the application of nano-scaled extracellular vesicles in nanotechnology and medicine, highlighting the latest developments since 2023.

This work reveals the strategy of in situ carbonization and biological application of carbonized porous silica particles (Si-P-CNPs) which improved the biodegradability and lesser fibrosis induction, demonstrating the importance of this process.

Dynamic photoswitching in azobenzene linked bis(1,3-propanediols) enables the formation of self-assembled barrel rosette anion channels in the trans-form, while the cis-form remains inactive due to its poor self-assembly.

HACD–TMAV, a carbon dot–vesicle conjugate, selectively delivered glutamine inhibitor DON to CD44-enriched cancer cells, inducing ROS triggered apoptosis by dual targeting CD44 and SLC1A5 through downregulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling cascade.

This paper reports synthesis, aqueous self-assembly and relevance of the pH-triggered activable photodynamic therapy of amphiphilic polyurethane (P1S) functionalized with a heavy-atom free organic photosensitizer.

Mitochondria undergo significant alterations in cancer. Thus, in this study we demonstrate the utility of a dual-targeted polymeric nanoparticle to specifically target the mitochondria of cancer over normal cells for targeted metabolic alteration.

Two common amphiphiles, a cationic photoinitiator and an anionic surfactant, are combined to create ‘smart’ nanoscale vesicles. When exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS), light (UV) or heat, the vesicles are converted into smaller micelles.

A heterogeneous biocatalyst is reported to address the instability associated with peptide-based homogeneous catalysts, and it shows potential in the detection of pesticides, bone regeneration, and anti-biofouling material applications.

Multifunctional proteins were supramolecular conjugated to metal–organic framework for overcoming extracellular matrix of tumor microenvironment and targeting cancer cell.

A liquid crystalline system exhibiting clustering triggered emission shows intrinsic downconversion chiral luminescence and acts as a template for the generation of upconversion circularly polarized luminescence leading to dual mode chiral emission.

This study unveils shape-tunable precision two-dimensional structures from chromophore-conjugated poly(L-lactides) by crystallization-driven self-assembly and the polymer chain length-dependent optical properties of the surface-occupied π-systems.

A hydrogel (Fe-1_GMP) with tunable emission and mechanical strength serves as a host for controlled Fenton reaction that could be upregulated upon adding ascorbic acid (AA), demonstrating antibacterial efficacy via ROS generation.

Small molecule-based nucleic-acid interactome protein degradation through PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) is a relatively new modality in cellular interventions.

In situ BINOL formation during polymerization produced spirobifluorene-BINOL-based porous polymers showing volatile iodine uptake up to 4 g g⁻¹ and loads silver nanoparticles towards the efficient catalytic synthesis of 1H-tetrazoles.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) pose a significant challenge in hospital settings.

A simple tripeptide significantly reduces insulin amyloid fibril formation and it is proposed as a formulation stabiliser. In silico studies reveal the mechanism of interaction with the insulin hydrophobic motifs that are prone to fibrillation.

Tumour cells secrete various proangiogenic factors like VEGF, PDGF, and EGF that result in the formation of highly vascularized tumours with an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment.

Both the FRET assay using model biomembranes and cellular uptake studies revealed a higher membrane fusogenic nature of the tumor-targeting liposomes of the RGDK-lipopeptide than that of the tumor-targeting liposomes of the CGKRK-lipopeptide.

Green-fluorescent, negatively charged newly synthesized carbon dots cannot penetrate KB and CHO cell lines. But, an amino acid containing amphiphile with a positively charged group forms an aggregate that acts as a carrier for these carbon dots for cell entry and to label and image mitochondria.

Different co-assembly modes depending on the nature of the solvents observed in multi-component systems with structurally similar components.

A saddle that protons can ride on! A saddle-shaped aza-crown-like macrocycle produces diverse morphologies and high solid-state proton conduction up to 21.1 mS cm⁻¹ (at 27 °C and 95% RH).

A dual-drug loaded nanoparticle demonstrates superior inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and improves the survival rate in a mouse model of septic peritonitis.

Sugar alcohol-modified poly(β-amino esters) enables selective caveolae-mediated endocytosis.

Cooperative dissolution of drug-loaded peptidomimetic vesicles and amyloid β (Aβ) fibrils allows for the development of therapeutic formulations to modulate disorders associated with amyloid toxicity.

Sulfur quantum dots (SQDs) exhibited potent antibacterial activity upon surface functionalization. Yet, hydrophobic ligand attachment diminished efficacy. This study underscores the impact of hydrophobicity on antibacterial agent development.