抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Signaling Recognition Events with Fluorescent Sensors and Switches.

Ju Mei,†,‡,∥ Nelson L. C. Leung,†,‡,∥ Ryan T. K. Kwok,†,‡ Jacky W. Y. Lam,†,‡ and Ben Zhong Tang*,†,‡,§ †HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China ‡Department of Chemistry, HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study, Institute of Molecular Functional Materials, Division of Biomedical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China Guangdong Innovative Research Team, SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China

Aggregation-Induced Emission: Together We Shine, United We Soar!

The use of solar energy to produce molecular hydrogen and oxygen (H2 and O2) from overall water splitting is a promising means of renewable energy storage. In the past 40 years, various inorganic and organic systems have been developed as photocatalysts for water splitting driven by visible light. These photocatalysts, however, still suffer from low quantum efficiency and/or poor stability. We report the design and fabrication of a metal-free carbon nanodot-carbon nitride (C3N4) nanocomposite and demonstrate its impressive performance for photocatalytic solar water splitting. We measured quantum efficiencies of 16% for wavelength λ = 420 ± 20 nanometers, 6.29% for λ = 580 ± 15 nanometers, and 4.42% for λ = 600 ± 10 nanometers, and determined an overall solar energy conversion efficiency of 2.0%. The catalyst comprises low-cost, Earth-abundant, environmentally friendly materials and shows excellent stability.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/347/6225/970.full.pdf

Metal-free efficient photocatalyst for stable visible water splitting via a two-electron pathway

Self-Assembly of Discrete Cyclic Nanostructures Mediated by Transition Metals

The miniaturization of components used in the construction of working devices is being pursued currently by the large-downward (top-down) fabrication. This approach, however, which obliges solid-state physicists and electronic engineers to manipulate progressively smaller and smaller pieces of matter, has its intrinsic limitations. An alternative approach is a small-upward (bottom-up) one, starting from the smallest compositions of matter that have distinct shapes and unique properties-namely molecules. In the context of this particular challenge, chemists have been extending the concept of a macroscopic machine to the molecular level. A molecular-level machine can be defined as an assembly of a distinct number of molecular components that are designed to perform machinelike movements (output) as a result of an appropriate external stimulation (input). In common with their macroscopic counterparts, a molecular machine is characterized by 1) the kind of energy input supplied to make it work, 2) the nature of the movements of its component parts, 3) the way in which its operation can be monitored and controlled, 4) the ability to make it repeat its operation in a cyclic fashion, 5) the timescale needed to complete a full cycle of movements, and 6) the purpose of its operation. Undoubtedly, the best energy inputs to make molecular machines work are photons or electrons. Indeed, with appropriately chosen photochemically and electrochemically driven reactions, it is possible to design and synthesize molecular machines that do work. Moreover, the dramatic increase in our fundamental understanding of self-assembly and self-organizational processes in chemical synthesis has aided and abetted the construction of artificial molecular machines through the development of new methods of noncovalent synthesis and the emergence of supramolecular assistance to covalent synthesis as a uniquely powerful synthetic tool. The aim of this review is to present a unified view of the field of molecular machines by focusing on past achievements, present limitations, and future perspectives. After analyzing a few important examples of natural molecular machines, the most significant developments in the field of artificial molecular machines are highlighted. The systems reviewed include 1) chemical rotors, 2) photochemically and electrochemically induced molecular (conformational) rearrangements, and 3) chemically, photochemically, and electrochemically controllable (co-conformational) motions in interlocked molecules (catenanes and rotaxanes), as well as in coordination and supramolecular complexes, including pseudorotaxanes. Artificial molecular machines based on biomolecules and interfacing artificial molecular machines with surfaces and solid supports are amongst some of the cutting-edge topics featured in this review. The extension of the concept of a machine to the molecular level is of interest not only for the sake of basic research, but also for the growth of nanoscience and the subsequent development of nanotechnology.

Artificial Molecular Machines.

Photophysics of Organic Molecules in Solution Introduction Electronic States Radiative Transitions Nonradiative Transitions Excited State Kinetics Acknowledgments Bibliography Transition Metal Complexes Electronic Structure Types of Excited States and Electronic Transitions Absorption and Emission Bands Jablonski Diagram Photochemical Reactivity Electrochemical Behavior Polynuclear Metal Complexes Photophysical Properties of Organic Compounds Photophysics of Organic Molecules in Solution Triplet-State Energies: Ordered Flash Photolysis: Designing Experiments Low-Temperature Photophysics of Organic Molecules Absorption and Luminescence Spectra of Organic Compounds ESR and ODMR Parameters of the Triplet State Photophysical Properties of Transition Metal Complexes Photophysical Parameters Absorption and Emission Spectra Abbreviations Rate Constants of Excited-State Quenching Ionization Energies, Electron Affinities, and Reduction Potentials Ionization Energies and Electron Affinities Reduction Potentials Bond Dissociation Energies Solvent Properties Donor Number Luminescence Spectroscopy Measurements Correction of Luminescence Intensity Measurements in Solution Fluorescence Quantum Yield Standards Phosphorescence Quantum Yield Standards Luminescence Lifetime Standards Light Sources and Filters Spectral Distribution of Photochemical Sources Transmission Characteristics of Light Filters and Glasses Chemical Actinometry Ferrioxalate Actinometer Photochromic Actinometers Reinecke's Salt Actinometer Uranyl Oxalate Actinometer Other Actinometers Miscellaneous Spin-Orbit Coupling Hammett ? Constants Fundamental Constants and Conversion Factors Index *References included in each chapter

Handbook of Photochemistry

Energy is the most important issue of the 21st century. About 85 % of our energy comes from fossil fuels, a finite resource unevenly distributed beneath the Earth’s surface. Reserves of fossil fuels are progressively decreasing, and their continued use produces harmful effects such as pollution that threatens human health and greenhouse gases associated with global warming. Prompt global action to solve the energy crisis is therefore needed. To pursue such an action, we are urged to save energy and to use energy in more efficient ways, but we are also forced to find alternative energy sources, the most convenient of which is solar energy for several reasons. The sun continuously provides the Earth with a huge amount of energy, fairly distributed all over the world. Its enormous potential as a clean, abundant, and economical energy source, however, cannot be exploited unless it is converted into useful forms of energy. This Review starts with a brief description of the mechanism at the basis of the natural photosynthesis and, then, reports the results obtained so far in the field of photochemical conversion of solar energy. The “grand challenge” for chemists is to find a convenient means for artificial conversion of solar energy into fuels. If chemists succeed to create an artificial photosynthetic process, “… life and civilization will continue as long as the sun shines!”, as the Italian scientist Giacomo Ciamician forecast almost one hundred years ago.

Photochemical Conversion of Solar Energy

Preface.Reference.General Concepts.PART I: DEVICES FOR PROCESSING ELECTRONS AND ELECTRONIC ENERGY.Fundamental Principles of Electron and Energy Transfer.Wires and Related Systems.Switching Electron- and Energy-transfer Processes.Light-harvesting Antennae.Photoinduced Charge Separation and Solar Energy Conversion.PART II: MEMORIES, LOGIC GATES, AND RELATED SYSTEMS.Bistable Systems.Multistate-Multifunctional Systems.Logic Gates.PART III: MOLECULAR-SCALE MACHINES.Basic Principles of Molecular Machines.Spontaneous Mechanical-like Motions.Movements Related to Opening, Closing, and Translocation Functions.Rotary Movements.Threading-Dethreading Movements.Linear Movements.Motions in Catenanes.Appendix.Glossary.List of Abbreviations.Subject Index.

Molecular Devices and Machines– A Journey into the Nano World

We report the incrementally staged design, synthesis, characterization, and operation of a molecular machine that behaves like a nanoscale elevator. The operation of this device, which is made of a platformlike component interlocked with a trifurcated riglike component and is only 3.5 nanometers by 2.5 nanometers in size, relies on the integration of several structural and functional molecular subunits. This molecular elevator is considerably more complex and better organized than previously reported artificial molecular machines. It exhibits a clear-cut on-off reversible behavior, and it could develop forces up to around 200 piconewtons.

Alberto Credi

Papers

Artificial Molecular Machines.

Handbook of Photochemistry

Photochemical Conversion of Solar Energy

Molecular Devices and Machines– A Journey into the Nano World

A Molecular Elevator