Reduction-Responsive Supramolecular Sheets for Selective Regulation of Facultative Anaerobe Agglutination.

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive supramolecular materials have promising biological applications because of their ability to rapidly undergo significant structural changes in response to diverse stimuli. Herein, we report supramolecular sheets assembled via charge-transfer interactions between the pyrene moiety of a d-mannose-containing amphiphile and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ). The supramolecular sheets showed reduction-responsive behavior, in which their disassembly was triggered by the reduction of TCNQ by sodium sulfide. In an anaerobic environment, the sheet structure remained intact and the exposed d-mannose moieties induced the agglutination of facultative anaerobes, thereby inhibiting bacterial growth. In contrast, in an aerobic environment, the reduction of TCNQ by the hydrogen sulfide generated by facultative anaerobes caused sheet disassembly. This enabled continuous bacterial growth, because the collapsed sheets could not induce agglutination. Thus, this study presents a novel supramolecular material for the selective regulation of facultative anaerobe growth according to the external environment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.