(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from Texas A&M University have developed molybdenum disulfide nanoflowers that can stimulate mitochondrial regeneration, helping cells generate more energy. According to Akhilesh Gaharwar, one of the researchers involved in this study, the nanoflowers could offer new treatments for muscle dystrophy, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders by increasing ATP production, mitochondrial DNA, and cellular respiration. “This discovery is unique,” said Vishal Gohil, another researcher involved in the study. “We are not just improving mitochondrial function; we are rethinking cellular energy entirely. The potential for regenerative medicine is incredibly exciting.”

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense)
Using a ventilator-on-a-chip developed at The Ohio State University, researchers have found that shear stress from the collapse and reopening of the air sacs is the most harmful type of damage. This miniature organ-on-a-chip model simulates lung injury during mechanical ventilation, said Samir Ghadiali, one of the scientists involved in this study. The ventilator-on-a chip’s measurement of real-time changes to cells was enabled by an innovative approach: growing human lung cells on a synthetic nanofiber membrane mimicking the complex lung matrix. This ventilator-on-a-chip is closer to the authentic ventilated lung microenvironment than any similar lung chip systems to date, the researchers said.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from New York University have begun to explore exosomes, tiny membrane-bound vesicles, as promising tools for wound healing. These nanovesicles carry various biological materials – nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids – allowing them to mediate intercellular communication and influence processes such as tissue repair. By combining them with hydrogels, which are composed of networks of cross-linked polymers, the researchers showed that hydrogel-exosome combinations consistently lead to faster wound closure than either hydrogels or exosomes used alone.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas and Vanderbilt University have found that X-rays of the kidneys using gold nanoparticles as a contrast agent might be more accurate in detecting kidney disease than standard laboratory blood tests. Based on their study in mice, the researchers also realized that caution may be warranted in using renal-clearable nanomedicines to patients with compromised kidneys. For example, they found that in mice with severely injured kidneys, nanoparticle transport through the kidneys was slowed down significantly, a situation that caused the nanoparticles to stay in the kidneys longer.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense)
A key step toward reusing carbon dioxide to make sustainable fuels is chaining carbon atoms together, and an artificial photosynthesis system developed at the University of Michigan can bind two of them into hydrocarbons. The system produces ethylene – a hydrocarbon typically used in plastics – with efficiency, yield, and longevity above other artificial photosynthesis systems. The device absorbs light through two kinds of semiconductors: a forest of gallium nitride nanowires, each just 50 nanometers wide, and the silicon base on which they were grown. The reaction transforming water and carbon dioxide into ethylene takes place on copper clusters that dot the nanowires.