Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of neurodegenerative disorders, yet no major breakthroughs have been made in AD human trials and the disease remains a paramount challenge and a stigma in medicine. Here we eliminate the toxicity of amyloid beta (Aβ) in a facile, high-throughput zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) model using casein coated-gold nanoparticles (βCas AuNPs). βCas AuNPs in systemic circulation translocate across the blood brain barrier of zebrafish larvae and sequester intracerebral Aβ 42 and its elicited toxicity in a nonspecific, chaperone-like manner. This is evidenced by behavioral pathology, reactive oxygen species and neuronal dysfunction biomarkers assays, complemented by brain histology and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy. We further demonstrate the capacity of βCas AuNPs in recovering the mobility and cognitive function of adult zebrafish exposed to Aβ. This potent, safe-to-use, and easy-to-apply nanomedicine may find broad use for eradicating toxic amyloid proteins implicated in a range of human diseases.

As an important member of group VA–VIA semiconductors, 2D Sb2Se3 has drawn widespread attention thanks to its outstanding optoelectronic properties as compared to the bulk material. However, due to the intrinsic chain‐like crystal structure, the controllable synthesis of ultrathin 2D planar Sb2Se3 nanostructures still remains a huge challenge. Herein, for the first time, the crystal structure limitation is overcome and the successful structural evolution of 2D ultrathin Sb2Se3 flakes (as thin as 1.3 nm), by introducing a sodium‐mediated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth method, is realized. The formation of 2D planar geometry is mainly attributed to the preferential growth of (010) plane with the lowest formation energy. The thickness‐dependent band structure of 2D Sb2Se3 flakes shows a wide absorption band from UV to NIR region (300–1000 nm), suggesting its potential application in broadband photodetection. Strikingly, the Sb2Se3 flakes–based photodetector demonstrates excellent performance such as broadband response varying from UV to NIR region, high responsivity of 4320 mA W−1, fast response time (τrise ≈ 13.16 ms and τdecay ≈ 9.61 ms), and strong anisotropic ratio of 2.5@ 532 nm, implying promising potential application in optoelectronics.

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Amyloid fibrils generally display chirality, a feature which has rarely been exploited in the development of therapeutics against amyloid diseases. Here we report, for the first time, the use of mesoscopic chiral silica nanoribbons against the in vivo amyloidogenesis of human islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), the peptide whose aggregation is implicated in type 2 diabetes. Our thioflavin T assay and transmission electron microscopy showed accelerated IAPP fibrillization through elimination of the nucleation phase and shortening of the elongation phase by the nanostructures. Coarse-grained simulations offered complementary molecular insights into the acceleration of amyloid aggregation through their nonspecific binding and directional seeding with the nanostructures. This accelerated IAPP fibrillization translated to reduced toxicity, especially for the right-handed silica nanoribbons, as revealed by cell viability, helium ion microscopy, as well as zebrafish embryo survival, developmental and behavioral assays. This study has implicated the potential of employing chiral nanotechnologies against the mesoscopic enantioselectivity of amyloid proteins and their associated diseases.

2D layered phosphorous compounds (2D LPCs) have led to explosion of research interest in recent years. With the diversity of valence states of phosphorus, 2D LPCs exist in various material types and possess many novel physical and chemical properties. These properties, including widely adjustable range of bandgap, diverse electronic properties covering metal, semimetal, semiconductor and insulator, together with inherent magnetism and ferroelectricity at atomic level, render 2D LPCs greatly promising in the applications of electronics, spintronics, broad‐spectrum optoelectronics, high‐performance catalysts, and energy storage, etc. In this review, the recently research progress of 2D LPCs are presented in detail. First, the 2D LPCs are classified according to their elemental composition and the corresponding crystal structures are introduced, followed by their preparation methods. Then, the novel properties are summarized and the potential applications are discussed in detail. Finally, the conclusion and perspective of the promising 2D LPCs are discussed on the foundation of the latest research progress.