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Cucurbit[n]urils are a family of molecular container hosts bearing a rigid hydrophobic cavity and two identical carbonyl fringed portals. They have attracted much attention in supramolecular chemistry because of their superior molecular recognition properties in aqueous media. This review highlights the recent advances and challenges in the field of cucurbit[n]uril-based coordination chemistry. It not only presents progress in the knowledge of such macrocyclic compounds, which range from simple to complicated architectures, but also presents new routes of synthesis and their advantages in hybrid porous solids. The concept of structure "inducer" for their structural design to achieve predictable structures and controlled pores is described. The large pore sizes and hydrophobic cavities of these compounds that lead to unprecedented properties and potential applications are also discussed.

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Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have been well established as an ideal source of cell-based therapy for bone tissue engineering applications. Boron (B) is a notable trace element in humans; so far, the effects of boron on the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs have not been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of boron (0, 1, 10,100, and 1,000 ng/ml) on osteogenic differentiation of human BMSCs. In this study, BMSCs proliferation was analyzed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay, and cell osteogenic differentiation was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay, Von Kossa staining, and real-time PCR. The results indicated that the proliferation of BMSCs was no different from the control group when added with B at the concentration of 1, 10, and 100 ng/ml respectively (P > 0.05); in contrast, 1,000 ng/ml B inhibited the proliferation of BMSCs at days 4, 7, and 14 (P < 0.05). By ALP staining, we discovered that BMSCs treated with 10 and 100 ng/ml B presented a higher ALP activity compared with control (P < 0.05). By real-time PCR, we detected the messenger RNA expression of ALP, osteocalcin, collagen type I, and bone morphogenetic proteins 7 were also increased in 10 and 100 ng/ml B treatment groups (P < 0.05). The calcium depositions were increased in 1 and 10 ng/ml B treatment groups (P < 0.05). Taken all together, it was the first time to report that B could increase osteogenic effect by stimulating osteogenic differentiation-related marker gene synthesis during the proliferation and differentiation phase in human BMSCs and could be a promising approach for enhancing osteogenic capacity of cell-based construction in bone tissue engineering.