Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 24, 2026
08:07
A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality
Published on: March 11, 2022
1.8K
Chirality-Driven Immune Checkpoint Modulation by Chiral Iridium(III) Nanoparticles
Lu Zhu1,2,3, Ze Wen2, Maokai Yu1
1School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|April 22, 2026
Summary
Chiral iridium nanoparticles precisely target PD-L1, enhancing tumor targeting and anticancer immunity. Delta configurations show superior efficacy in activating immune responses and remodeling the tumor microenvironment.
Area of Science:
- Nanotechnology and Materials Science
- Immunology and Cancer Therapy
- Medicinal Chemistry
Background:
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) offer advanced cancer treatment but lack precise targeting accuracy.
- Developing novel strategies for precise targeting is crucial to enhance ICI efficacy.
- Chiral nanoparticles can potentially improve interactions with chiral biomolecules like immune checkpoints.
Purpose of the Study:
- To construct metal-centered chiral iridium(III) nanoparticles (NPs) for enhanced immune checkpoint targeting.
- To investigate the chirality-dependent biological activities and tumor targeting capabilities of these NPs.
- To evaluate the impact of chiral NPs on anticancer immune responses and tumor microenvironment remodeling.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of a pair of metal-centered chiral iridium(III) nanoparticles, Δ-IrBMS8-NPs and Λ-IrBMS8-NPs, with a BMS-8 moiety.
- Evaluation of nanoparticle compatibility with immune checkpoint biomacromolecules without nanocarriers.
- Assessment of tumor targeting enhancement, *in vivo* anticancer immune responses, and immune cell activation.
Main Results:
- Δ-IrBMS8-NPs demonstrated a 129-fold enhancement in tumor targeting via stereoselective binding to PD-L1.
- Chiral nanoparticles exhibited distinct chirality-dependent biological activities.
- Enhanced anticancer immune responses were observed, including cytokine pathway activation in dendritic cells and CD8+ T cell recruitment.
Conclusions:
- This study pioneers the use of nanoscale metal-centered chirality for precise immune checkpoint targeting.
- Delta configurations play a pivotal role in enhancing anticancer immune responses.
- The findings pave the way for rational design of effective metal-based immunotherapies.
Related Concept Videos
02:30Chirality in Nature
13.3K
Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.
13.3K
02:25Chirality
23.1K
Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
23.1K
02:25Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
11.5K
Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...
11.5K
02:05Prochirality
4.0K
The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...
4.0K