Amino Acid Directed Helical Assemblies of Natural Berberine for Chirality‐Dependent Photodynamic Antibacterial Therapy

作者：Haoqiang Zhao, Jingyi Jiao, Zhixia Wang, Chengyu Shi, Xinran Huang, Yixuan Lin, Haolin Yang, Haimin Lei, Guanghui Ouyang, Minghua Liu · 发表于：Advanced Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1002/advs.202514096 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials、Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds、Polydiacetylene-based materials and applications

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.