(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed organic-material-based nanozymes – synthetic nanomaterials that have enzyme-like catalytic properties – that are non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost effective. To create these nanozymes, the researchers used a novel particle synthesis technique that brought each nanozyme’s size down to less than 100 nanometers. In one study, the researchers showed that these nanozymes, combined with a colorimetric sensing platform, could detect the presence of histamine in spinach and eggplant. In another study, the nanozymes were used to detect the presence of glyphosate, a common agricultural herbicide, in plants. “We were able to show that our system doesn’t just work in the lab, it has the potential to be utilized for real-world applications as a cost-effective molecule sensing system for food and agriculture,” said Dong Hoon Lee, lead author of the study.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Pennsylvania State University have discovered that Zika virus builds a series of tiny tubes, called tunneling nanotubes, that facilitate the transfer of viral particles to neighboring uninfected cells. The tiny conduits also provide a means to transport RNA, proteins and mitochondria, a cell’s main source of energy, from infected to neighboring cells. “Altogether, we show that Zika virus uses a tunneling strategy to covertly spread the infection in the placenta while hijacking mitochondria to augment its propagation and survival,” said Indira Mysorekar, one of the scientists involved in this study. “We propose that this strategy also protects the virus from the immune response.”

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation)
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai have shown that a combination of messenger RNA (mRNA) and a new lipid nanoparticle could help heal damaged lungs. The researchers matched up mRNA with just one unique lipid nanoparticle – ionizable amphiphilic Janus dendrimers – which are organ-specific. When it reaches the lung, the mRNA instructs the immune system to create transforming growth factor beta, a signaling molecule that is used to repair tissue. “This research marks the birth of a new mRNA delivery platform,” said 2023 Nobel laureate Drew Weissman, a co-author of the study. “While using other lipid nanoparticles works great to prevent infectious diseases, … this new platform does not have to be stored at such extremely cold temperatures and is even easier to produce.”

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Cancer; Caltech; California State University, Northridge; and Technion-Israel Institute in Haifa, Israel, have designed nanobioparticles that can cross the protective blood–brain barrier and deliver therapy directly into cancerous tumor cells. The findings could help clinicians target brain tumors previously unreachable by chemotherapy. The investigators conducted experiments using a unique blood-brain barrier “organ chip.” When investigators flowed the nanobioparticles through the blood vessel portion of the chip, they saw that it crossed over and accumulated in the brain matter.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that ferumoxytol, an U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved iron oxide nanoparticle formulation, greatly reduces infection in patients diagnosed with apical periodontitis. The researchers showed that topical applications of ferumoxytol in combination with hydrogen peroxide potently disrupt biofilms – dense, sticky communities of bacteria that attach to surfaces and cause infections. The researchers treated 44 patients with periapical periodontitis and found that patients who received ferumoxytol/hydrogen peroxide achieved a 99.9% reduction in bacterial counts without experiencing any adverse effects.