Peptides made of d-amino acids, as the enantiomer of corresponding l-peptides, are able to resist proteolysis. It is, however, unclear or much less explored whether or how d-amino acids affect the cellular response of supramolecular nanofibers formed by enzyme-triggered self-assembly of d-peptides. In this work, we choose a cell compatible molecule, Nap-l-Phe-l-Phe-l-_pTyr (LLL-1P), and systematically replace the l-amino acids in this tripeptidic precursor or its hydrogelator by the corresponding d-amino acid(s). The replacement of even one d-amino acid in this tripeptidic precursor increases its proteolytic resistance. The results of static light scattering and TEM images show the formation of nanostructures upon the addition of alkaline phosphatase, even at concentrations below the minimum gelation concentration (mgc). All these isomers are able to form ordered nanostructures and exhibit different morphologies. According to the cell viability assay on these stereochemical isomers, cells exhibit drastically different responses to the enantiomeric precursors, but almost same responses to the enantiomeric hydrogelators. Furthermore, the different cellular responses of LLL-1P and DDD-1P largely originate from the ecto-phosphatases catalyzed self-assembly of DDD-1 on the surface of cells. Therefore, this report not only illustrates a new way for tailoring the properties of supramolecular assemblies, but also provides new insights to answering the fundamental question of how mammalian cells respond to enzymatic formation of nanoscale supramolecular assemblies (e.g., nanofibers) of d-peptides.

In the past two decades, extensive efforts have been made to develop agents targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) for prostate cancer imaging and therapy. To date, represented by two recent approvals of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 and [¹⁸F]F-DCFPyL by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to identify suspected metastases or recurrence in patients with prostate cancer, PSMA-targeting imaging and theranostic agents derived from small molecule PSMA inhibitors have advanced to clinical practice and trials of prostate cancer. The focus of current development of new PSMA-targeting agents has thus shifted to the improvement of in vivo pharmacokinetics and higher specific binding affinity with the aims to further increase the detection sensitivity and specificity and minimize the toxicity to non-target tissues, particularly the kidneys. The main strategies involve systematic chemical modifications of the linkage between the targeting moiety and imaging/therapy payloads. In addition to a summary of the development history of PSMA-targeting agents, this review provides an overview of current advances and future promise of PSMA-targeted imaging and theranostics with focuses on the structural determinants of the chemical modification towards the next generation of PSMA-targeting agents.