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Category: nanotechnology

Nanowire platform reveals elusive astrocytes in their natural state

Scientists have engineered a nanowire platform that mimics brain tissue to study astrocytes, the star-shaped cells critical for brain health, for the first time in their natural state.

Astrocytes are the brain’s most abundant and mysterious cells, responsible for regulating communication between neurons and helping to maintain the blood-brain barrier. They are also highly dynamic shape-shifters, something they do not do on typical petri dishes, leaving major gaps in our understanding of how they operate.

“Frustratingly, little is known about the stunning diversity of astrocyte morphology and we also don’t know much about the molecular machinery behind these shape shifts,” said co-senior author Ishan Barman, a Johns Hopkins University bioengineer. “They won’t take on these shapes on glass, so the question for us was how do we replicate the in vivo shape but in vitro?”

DNA transcription is a tightly choreographed event: How RNA polymerase II regulates the dance

Life’s instructions are written in DNA, but it is the enzyme RNA polymerase II (Pol II) that reads the script, transcribing RNA in eukaryotic cells and eventually giving rise to proteins. Scientists know that Pol II must advance down the gene in perfect sync with other biological processes; aberrations in the movement of this enzyme have been linked to cancer and aging. But technical hurdles prevented them from precisely determining how this important molecular machine moves along DNA, and what governs its pauses and accelerations.

A new study fills in many of those knowledge gaps. In a paper published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, researchers used a single-molecule platform to watch individual mammalian transcription complexes in action. The result is a clear view of how this molecular engine accelerates, pauses, and shifts gears as it transcribes genetic information.

“What’s really striking is how this machine functions almost like a finely tuned automobile,” says Shixin Liu, head of the Laboratory of Nanoscale Biophysics and Biochemistry. “It has the equivalent of multiple gears, or speed modes, each controlled by the binding of different regulatory proteins. We figured out, for the first time, how each gear is controlled.”

Sensor-integrated food wrapper can facilitate real-time, non-destructive detection of nutritional components

Food quality and safety are crucial. However, conventional food-monitoring methods, including ribotyping and polymerase chain reaction, tend to be destructive and lengthy. These shortcomings limit their potential for broad applications. In this regard, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing, with real-time, non-destructive, and high sensitivity capabilities, is a highly promising alternative.

In a new breakthrough, a team of researchers, led by Associate Professor Ji-Hwan Ha from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanbat National University, Republic of Korea, has developed a two-in-one nanostructured SERS sensor integrated into a stretchable and antimicrobial wrapper (NSSAW) that not only monitors food directly on the surface but also actively preserves it.

Their novel findings are published in the journal Small.

New light, strong material developed, withstands 932°F temperature

Researchers have developed very light and extremely strong material that can withstand extreme heat. The material could be useful for aerospace and other high-performance industries.

Developed by researchers from University of Toronto Engineering, the material can withstand temperatures up to 932°F (500° C).

The new composite material is made of various metallic alloys and nanoscale precipitates, and has a structure that mimics that of reinforced concrete, but on a microscopic scale.

Consciousness as the foundation: New theory addresses nature of reality

Consciousness is fundamental; only thereafter do time, space and matter arise. This is the starting point for a new theoretical model of the nature of reality, presented by Maria Strømme, Professor of Materials Science at Uppsala University, in AIP Advances. The article has been selected as the best paper of the issue and featured on the cover.

Strømme, who normally conducts research in nanotechnology, here takes a major leap from the smallest scales to the very largest—and proposes an entirely new theory of the origin of the universe. The article presents a framework in which consciousness is not viewed as a byproduct of brain activity, but as a fundamental field underlying everything we experience—matter, space, time, and life itself.

Promising Effects of CAR T-Cell Therapy in Refractory Stiff Person Syndrome and a Hopeful Future for All Neuroautoimmunities

Via OPG_BOEx: Clinical translation of photoacoustic imaging using exogenous molecular contrast agents [Invited] https://bit.ly/4occZgi

A team from Rice University examines the current status and future potential of contrast-enhanced PAI in human applications.

In their results, the team proposed neuro-oncology as a novel application, effectively addressing the limitations of intraoperative fluorescence imaging.

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) combines optical contrast with acoustic detection to enable high-resolution, molecular imaging at clinically relevant depths. This review outlines the current status and future potential of contrast-enhanced PAI in human applications. We begin by discussing regulatory considerations surrounding both imaging devices and exogenous contrast agents, highlighting safety concerns, lack of standardized validation protocols, and barriers to the approval of novel agents. To accelerate clinical adoption, many studies have focused on repurposing FDA-approved agents such as indocyanine green, methylene blue, and clofazimine, which offer favorable optical properties and known safety profiles. We then review clinical applications of contrast-enhanced PAI across organ systems. In lymphatic imaging, PAI enables noninvasive visualization of lymphatic vessels and sentinel lymph nodes. Prostate imaging benefits from improved tumor delineation, and vascular applications leverage PAI to assess oxygen saturation and vascular remodeling. In gastrointestinal and hepatic imaging, PAI supports functional assessment and lesion detection with enhanced contrast. Emerging applications in neuro-oncology demonstrate the potential of PAI for intraoperative guidance and brain tumor imaging. Compared to fluorescence imaging, PAI provides deeper penetration and quantifiable contrast. Studies using both approved and investigational agents, including gold nanorods and targeted dye conjugates, highlight advances in imaging tumor margins. Progress in transcranial PAI and molecular probe design continues to broaden its capabilities. Together, these developments underscore the expanding clinical utility of contrast-enhanced PAI for real-time, functional, and molecular imaging.

Electric Fields Steer Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery

Researchers discovered a new way to independently tune a nanoparticle’s speed and direction using different strength electric fields.

The new method could lead to better drug delivery technologies.

Read more.

A new method using a combination of strong and weak electric fields to change nanoparticle speed and direction could improve drug delivery and purification systems.

The “Impossible” LED: Cambridge Team Successfully Powers Insulating Nanoparticles

Scientists have discovered how to electrically power insulating nanoparticles using molecular antennas, creating exceptionally pure near-infrared LEDs with wide-ranging potential. A newly developed approach uses “molecular antennas” to direct electrical energy into nanoparticles that normally can

Automated Benchtop Synthesis of a Quadrillion-Plus Member Core@Multishell Nanoparticle Library Using a Massively Generalizable Nanochemical Reaction

Rapidly expanding advances in computational prediction capabilities have led to the identification of many potential materials that were previously unknown, including millions of solid-state compounds and hundreds of nanoparticles with complex compositions and morphologies. Autonomous workflows are being developed to accelerate experimental validation of these bulk and nanoscale materials through synthesis. For colloidal nanoparticles, such strategies have focused primarily on compositionally simple systems, due in part to limitations in the generalizability of chemical reactions and incompatibilities between automated setups and mainstream laboratory methods. As a result, the scope of theoretical versus synthesizable materials is rapidly diverging. Here, we use a simple automated platform to drive a massively generalizable reaction capable of producing more than 651 quadrillion distinct core@multishell nanoparticles using a single set of reaction conditions. As a strategic model system, we chose a family of seven isostructural layered rare earth (RE) oxychloride compounds, REOCl (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy), which are well-known 2D materials with composition-dependent optical, electronic, and catalytic properties. By integrating a computer-driven, hobbyist-level pump system with a laboratory-scale synthesis setup, we could grow up to 20 REOCl shells in any sequence on a REOCl nanoparticle core. Reagent injection sequences were programmed to introduce composition gradients, luminescent dopants, and binary through high-entropy solid solutions, which expands the library to a near-infinite scope. We also used ChatGPT to randomly select several core@multishell nanoparticle targets within predefined constraints and then direct the automated setup to synthesize them. This platform, which includes both massively generalizable nanochemical reactions and laboratory-scale automated synthesis, is poised for plug-and-play integration into autonomous materials discovery workflows to expand the translation of prediction to realization through efficient synthesis.

Nasal nanomedicine delivers immune-boosting therapy to fight brain tumors

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, along with collaborators at Northwestern University, have developed a noninvasive approach to treat one of the most aggressive and deadly brain cancers. Their technology uses precisely engineered structures assembled from nano-size materials to deliver potent tumor-fighting medicine to the brain through nasal drops. The novel delivery method is less invasive than similar treatments in development and was shown in mice to effectively treat glioblastoma by boosting the brain’s immune response.

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