Xing Yi, Cui Jinyan, Nedved Nicholas, O'Hara Jake A, Yu Yan
Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, United States.
Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States.
JACS Au. 2025 Jul 10;5(7):2939-2952. doi: 10.1021/jacsau.5c00420. eCollection 2025 Jul 28.
Cells communicate and respond to their environment through intracellular signalinga complex process where ions, biomolecules, and organelles interact in precisely orchestrated spatial and temporal sequences to relay signals between the cell surface and the nucleus. While significant progress has been made in identifying key molecular players in many signaling pathways, much less is understood about the timing, spatial localization, and importantly, the coordination of their interactions. Traditional biochemical methods often fall short in capturing the real-time dynamics, as well as the spatial resolution and sensitivity required to study these interactions comprehensively. Nanomaterials, widely used for drug delivery and other biomedical applications, offer unique advantages for probing intracellular signaling for basic cell biology understanding. Their nanoscale precision, multiplexed sensing capabilities, and ability to both image and manipulate signaling events in real-time provide powerful new tools for dissecting the dynamic signaling activities. This perspective explores how recent innovations in nanomaterial design are enhancing our ability to obtain quantitative, high-resolution insights into intracellular signaling, thereby advancing our understanding of both fundamental biological processes and disease mechanisms, while also highlighting the remaining challenges and future opportunities in this rapidly evolving field.
细胞通过细胞内信号传导与周围环境进行交流并做出反应，这是一个复杂的过程，离子、生物分子和细胞器在精确编排的时空序列中相互作用，以在细胞表面和细胞核之间传递信号。虽然在确定许多信号通路中的关键分子参与者方面已经取得了重大进展，但对于它们相互作用的时间、空间定位，以及重要的是它们相互作用的协调，人们了解得还很少。传统的生化方法在捕捉实时动态以及全面研究这些相互作用所需的空间分辨率和灵敏度方面往往不足。纳米材料广泛应用于药物递送和其他生物医学应用，为探究细胞内信号传导以理解基础细胞生物学提供了独特优势。它们的纳米级精度、多重传感能力以及实时成像和操纵信号事件的能力，为剖析动态信号活动提供了强大的新工具。本文探讨了纳米材料设计的最新创新如何增强我们获取细胞内信号传导的定量、高分辨率见解的能力，从而推进我们对基本生物学过程和疾病机制的理解，同时也强调了这个快速发展领域中仍然存在的挑战和未来机遇。
