Abstract
Cell-type selective metabolic labeling of glycans in complicated biological environments remains a big challenge. Herein, we develop a glycan labeling tool by encapsulating a non-natural azido sugar (ManNAz) into a mannosyl ligand-modified metal–organic framework (MOF) (MIL-101-Man). The mannosyl ligands multivalently displayed on the surface of the MOFs bind specifically to mannose receptors (MRs) expressed on the surface of a target cell to mediate targeted delivery of the unnatural sugar. Upon endocytosis, exposure of the MOFs to the acidic environment of the endosomes and lysosomes resulted in the release of ManNAz to subsequently undergo metabolic incorporation into cellular glycans. A series of biological experiments followed by fluorescence-based biorthogonal cell labelling demonstrated the receptor-dependent uptake of MIL-101-Man, and an assay involving the co-culture of two cell lines in one cellular medium confirmed the target specificity of the MOFs for the glycoengineering of target cells that overly express MRs over adjacent control cells with minimal MR expression. This study offers an effective tool for the metabolic glycoengineering of cells in a receptor-targeting manner.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Materials Horizons |
| Early online date | 3 Mar 2026 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 3 Mar 2026 |
Data Availability Statement
All data supporting the results of this study are available in the article or the supplementary information (SI) files. Supplementary information: Fig. S1–S17, Tables S1 and S2, NMR spectra, HRMS spectra, and further experimental details. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d5mh01986a.Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Natural National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 92253306, 82130099 and 22477030), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (grant No. 24DX1400200), the International Cooperation Program of Shanghai Science and Technology (No. 23490711600), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (222201717003), the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (B16017), the National Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai Science and Technology (No. 24ZR1415400), the Shanghai Oriental Talents Youth Program (No. QNKJ2024010), the Shanghai Xuhui District Hospital Local Cooperation Project (23XHYD-20), the Open Funding Project of the State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology (KF 2402), State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, P. R. China, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory on signaling Regulation and Targeting Therapy of Liver Cancer (Naval Medical University) (grant 2023-MEKLLC-MS/ZD-00*) and the Shandong Laboratory Program (SYS202205) for financial support. T. D. J. wishes to thank the University of Bath and the Open Research Fund of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University (2020ZD01), for support. The Research Center of Analysis and Test of East China University of Science and Technology is gratefully acknowledged for assistance in analytical experiments. We thank the staff members of the Integrated Laser Microscopy System at the National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai for providing technical support and assistance in data collection and analysis.Funding
The authors are thankful to the Natural National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 92253306, 82130099 and 22477030), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (grant No. 24DX1400200), the International Cooperation Program of Shanghai Science and Technology (No. 23490711600), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (222201717003), the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (B16017), the National Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai Science and Technology (No. 24ZR1415400), the Shanghai Oriental Talents Youth Program (No. QNKJ2024010), the Shanghai Xuhui District Hospital Local Cooperation Project (23XHYD-20), the Open Funding Project of the State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology (KF 2402), State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, P. R. China, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory on signaling Regulation and Targeting Therapy of Liver Cancer (Naval Medical University) (grant 2023-MEKLLC-MS/ZD-00*) and the Shandong Laboratory Program (SYS202205) for financial support. T. D. J. wishes to thank the University of Bath and the Open Research Fund of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University (2020ZD01), for support. The Research Center of Analysis and Test of East China University of Science and Technology is gratefully acknowledged for assistance in analytical experiments. We thank the staff members of the Integrated Laser Microscopy System at the National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai for providing technical support and assistance in data collection and analysis.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Mechanics of Materials
- Process Chemistry and Technology
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
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