Helical nanostructures co-assembled from berberine (BBR) and Fmoc-Y display supramolecular-chirality-dependent photodynamic antibacterial activity. The molecular chirality of Fmoc-Y organizes achiral BBR into chiral nanofibers, where supramolecular handedness controls bacterial surface adsorption, membrane penetration, intracellular BBR delivery, and ROS generation. Chirality-matched right-handed fibers exhibit markedly enhanced bacterial inhibition over left-handed counterparts.
Abstract
While the biological effects of chiral pharmaceuticals at molecular level have been extensively studied, research remains limited on how chiral materials derived from natural herbal components exert biomedical effects at higher hierarchical levels. Herein, it is reported that helical nanostructures co-assembled from a traditional Chinese medicine-derived berberine (BBR) and an amino acid derivative (Fmoc-Y) exhibit supramolecular-chirality-dependent photodynamic antibacterial activity. The inherent molecular chirality of the Fmoc-Y component directs the organization of achiral BBR into chiral nanofibers. The experimental results reveal that supramolecular chirality governs nanofiber adsorption on bacterial surfaces and subsequent membrane penetration. Compared with left-handed nanofibers, the chirality-matched right-handed ones enable more efficient intracellular delivery of BBR and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, leading to superior bacterial inhibition. This work highlights, for the first time, the unique role of supramolecular chirality in biomedicine applications based on natural herbal components, demonstrating how supramolecular chiral engineering synergizes with natural pharmacophores to develop high-efficiency antimicrobial systems and advanced theranostic platforms.
Advanced Science, EarlyView. Read More
