Squaramide‐Based Supramolecular Materials Drive HepG2 Spheroid Differentiation

Supramolecular materials: Longer and safer gastric residence.

Cucurbituril-based supramolecular engineered nanostructured materials.

Cucurbituril (CB) is a unique macrocycle with a rigid symmetrical structure, which is composed of two identical hydrophilic portals decorated with partially negatively charged carbonyl groups and a hydrophobic cavity. A number of different nanostructured materials, including nanoparticles, nanocomposites, vesicles and rods, have been prepared by taking advantage of the varying cavity size of th...

Silica bioreplication preserves three-dimensional spheroid structures of human pluripotent stem cells and HepG2 cells

Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures produce more in vivo-like multicellular structures such as spheroids that cannot be obtained in two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures. Thus, they are increasingly employed as models for cancer and drug research, as well as tissue engineering. It has proven challenging to stabilize spheroid architectures for detailed morphological examination. Here we overcome t...

Supramolecular Interfacial Polymerization: A Controllable Method of Fabricating Supramolecular Polymeric Materials

A new method of supramolecular polymerization at the water-oil interface is developed. As a demonstration, an oil-soluble supramonomer containing two thiol end groups linked by two ureidopyrimidinone units and a water-soluble monomer bearing two maleimide end groups are employed. Supramolecular interfacial polymerization can be implemented by a thiol-maleimide click reaction at the water-chloro...

Energy materials: supramolecular nanoparticles for solar energy harvesting

Renewable resource of carbon-free energy is crucial in the current scenario of global warming and our growing energy needs. Besides, the significance of safer energy resources has been underscored by many nuclear mishaps, including the recently crippled Fukushima Nuclear power plant in Japan. Sunlight is the most promising alternative to nuclear fuels and greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil and alco...