(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)
Researchers from Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Iowa, and the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom have developed a platform to streamline the discovery and cost-effective manufacturing of nanosensors that can detect proteins, peptides, and small molecules by increasing their fluorescence up to 100-fold in less than a second. A key component of the platform is fluorogenic amino acids that can be encoded into target-binding small protein sequences. “Essentially, we retrofitted the protein synthesis process for the construction of binding-activated fluorescent nanosensors,” said Jonathan Rittichier, one of the researchers involved in this study.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense)
A team of researchers from Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, and Emory University has developed a therapy to target and kill dengue virus using the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas13. The team used lipid nanoparticles that carried a custom-coded messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule. The mRNA encodes for a CRISPR protein that cuts viral RNA. When the encoded mRNA was delivered to infected cells, the cells used the mRNA instructions to build the CRISPR protein, which degraded the viral RNA within the cells. Thanks to this treatment, the team was able to treat dengue virus in mice.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation)
A research team from Brown University has developed a new method for transferring the ions that mass spectrometers analyze, dramatically reducing sample loss so that nearly all of it remains intact. “Basically, it’s a process where you’re really spraying your sample all over the place to produce these ions and only get a tiny portion of them into the mass spectrometer’s vacuum for analysis,” said Nicholas Drachman, a physics Ph.D. student who led the work. “Our approach skips all of that.” The key is a nanotube the researchers developed that has an opening about 30 nanometers across. For comparison, the conventional needle used in electrospray has an opening of about 20 micrometers across. The new nanotube also has the unique ability to transfer ions that are dissolved in water directly into the vacuum of a mass spectrometer, rather than producing a spray of droplets that must be dried out to access the ions.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health)
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that small extracellular vesicles are secreted by tumor cells and act as a “forcefield,” blocking nanoparticle-based therapies aimed at targeting cancers. “A lot like the Death Star with its surrounding fleet of fighter ships and protective shields, solid tumors can use features like immune cells and vasculature to exert force, acting as a physical barrier to rebel forces (nanoparticles) coming in to deliver the payload that destroys it,” said Michael Mitchell, one of the researchers involved in this study.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Minnesota have developed magnetic nanoparticles that ensure safe rewarming of frozen tissues for transplant and address the issue of uneven heating due to inhomogeneous nanoparticle distribution. The researchers immersed animal tissues in a solution containing magnetic nanoparticles and a cryoprotective substance, and the solution was subsequently frozen with liquid nitrogen. The researchers then applied an alternating magnetic field, which initiated the rapid rewarming of the tissues, followed by a horizontal static magnetic field, which realigned the nanoparticles, effectively tapping the brakes on heat production.