News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

The challenge with rapidly diagnosing sepsis – a potentially life-threatening medical condition triggered by blood-borne pathogens – stems from the fact that measuring only one biomarker often does not allow a clear-cut diagnosis. Now, a multi-disciplinary team at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the University of Bath, United Kingdom, has further developed the Institute's eRapid technology as an affinity-based, low-cost electrochemical diagnostic sensor platform for the detection of multiple clinically relevant biomarkers in whole blood. The device uses a novel graphene nanocomposite-based surface coating and was demonstrated to accurately detect three different sepsis biomarkers simultaneously.

The challenge with rapidly diagnosing sepsis – a potentially life-threatening medical condition triggered by blood-borne pathogens – stems from the fact that measuring only one biomarker often does not allow a clear-cut diagnosis. Now, a multi-disciplinary team at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the University of Bath, United Kingdom, has further developed the Institute's eRapid technology as an affinity-based, low-cost electrochemical diagnostic sensor platform for the detection of multiple clinically relevant biomarkers in whole blood. The device uses a novel graphene nanocomposite-based surface coating and was demonstrated to accurately detect three different sepsis biomarkers simultaneously.

Visible and infrared light can carry more data than radio waves, but has always been confined to a hard-wired, fiber-optic cable. Working with Facebook's Connectivity Lab, a research team at Duke University has now made a major advance toward eliminating the fiber in fiber optics by using silver nanocubes that are 60 nanometers wide and spaced about 200 nanometers apart. While working to create a free-space optical communication system for high-speed wireless internet, the researchers have also shown that speed and efficiency properties previously demonstrated on tiny, single-unit plasmonic antennas can also be achieved on larger, centimeter-scale devices.

Visible and infrared light can carry more data than radio waves, but has always been confined to a hard-wired, fiber-optic cable. Working with Facebook's Connectivity Lab, a research team at Duke University has now made a major advance toward eliminating the fiber in fiber optics by using silver nanocubes that are 60 nanometers wide and spaced about 200 nanometers apart. While working to create a free-space optical communication system for high-speed wireless internet, the researchers have also shown that speed and efficiency properties previously demonstrated on tiny, single-unit plasmonic antennas can also be achieved on larger, centimeter-scale devices.

Oil and water may not mix, but adding the right nanoparticles to the recipe can convert these two immiscible fluids into an exotic gel with uses ranging from batteries to water filters to tint-changing smart windows. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Delaware have found what appears to be a better way to create these gels, which have been an area of intense research focus for more than a decade.

Oil and water may not mix, but adding the right nanoparticles to the recipe can convert these two immiscible fluids into an exotic gel with uses ranging from batteries to water filters to tint-changing smart windows. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Delaware have found what appears to be a better way to create these gels, which have been an area of intense research focus for more than a decade.

Superconductors – materials that conduct electricity without resistance – provide a macroscopic glimpse into quantum phenomena, which are usually observable only at the atomic level. Superconductors are also found in medical imaging, quantum computers, and cameras used with telescopes. But superconducting devices are expensive to manufacture and are prone to err, due to environmental noise. That could change, thanks to research from engineers at MIT, who are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics.

Superconductors – materials that conduct electricity without resistance – provide a macroscopic glimpse into quantum phenomena, which are usually observable only at the atomic level. Superconductors are also found in medical imaging, quantum computers, and cameras used with telescopes. But superconducting devices are expensive to manufacture and are prone to err, due to environmental noise. That could change, thanks to research from engineers at MIT, who are developing a superconducting nanowire, which could enable more efficient superconducting electronics.

Percutaneous coronary intervention, commonly known as angioplasty with a stent, opens clogged arteries and saves lives. Despite its benefit in treating atherosclerosis, this procedure still poses severe complications for some patients. Focused on tackling this treatment complication, researchers at the University of South Florida Health have recently developed a next-generation nanotherapy that consists of a nontoxic peptide and a synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA). The peptide and the mRNA spontaneously self-assemble into compacted nanoparticles that specifically target the injured regions of the arteries in mouse models mimicking angioplasty. The nanoparticles can also contain a microRNA switch, which can be added to the mRNA. The nanoparticles were injected into mice with arteries mimicking post-angioplasty vessel injury every three days for two weeks. Mice treated with the nanoparticles containing the microRNA switch completely restored endothelial cell growth in the injured artery, compared to animals treated with nanoparticles containing mRNA without the microRNA switch.

Percutaneous coronary intervention, commonly known as angioplasty with a stent, opens clogged arteries and saves lives. Despite its benefit in treating atherosclerosis, this procedure still poses severe complications for some patients. Focused on tackling this treatment complication, researchers at the University of South Florida Health have recently developed a next-generation nanotherapy that consists of a nontoxic peptide and a synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA). The peptide and the mRNA spontaneously self-assemble into compacted nanoparticles that specifically target the injured regions of the arteries in mouse models mimicking angioplasty. The nanoparticles can also contain a microRNA switch, which can be added to the mRNA. The nanoparticles were injected into mice with arteries mimicking post-angioplasty vessel injury every three days for two weeks. Mice treated with the nanoparticles containing the microRNA switch completely restored endothelial cell growth in the injured artery, compared to animals treated with nanoparticles containing mRNA without the microRNA switch.