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

Researchers from the University of Delaware and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute in Newark have created new drug-delivery systems with the potential to improve treatment for diseases that affect connective tissues, such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers devised cargo-carrying nanoparticles and are working to program these nanoparticles to selectively bind to degrading collagen in the body. When collagen degrades, as a result of disease or injury, the nanoparticles attach and remain at the injury site longer than many current treatment options. This allows for the possibility of delivering site-specific medicines over longer periods of time – from days to weeks.

Researchers from the University of Delaware and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute in Newark have created new drug-delivery systems with the potential to improve treatment for diseases that affect connective tissues, such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers devised cargo-carrying nanoparticles and are working to program these nanoparticles to selectively bind to degrading collagen in the body. When collagen degrades, as a result of disease or injury, the nanoparticles attach and remain at the injury site longer than many current treatment options. This allows for the possibility of delivering site-specific medicines over longer periods of time – from days to weeks.

While gene editing is remarkably precise in finding and altering genes, there is still no way to target treatment to specific locations in the body. The treatments tested so far involve removing blood stem cells or immune system T cells from the body to modify them, and then infusing them back into a patient. Now, researchers at Tufts University have, for the first time, devised a way to directly deliver gene-editing packages efficiently across the blood brain barrier and into specific regions of the brain, into immune system cells, or to specific tissues and organs in mouse models. The researchers used lipid nanoparticles – tiny "bubbles" of lipid molecules that can envelop the editing enzymes and carry them to specific cells, tissues, or organs.

While gene editing is remarkably precise in finding and altering genes, there is still no way to target treatment to specific locations in the body. The treatments tested so far involve removing blood stem cells or immune system T cells from the body to modify them, and then infusing them back into a patient. Now, researchers at Tufts University have, for the first time, devised a way to directly deliver gene-editing packages efficiently across the blood brain barrier and into specific regions of the brain, into immune system cells, or to specific tissues and organs in mouse models. The researchers used lipid nanoparticles – tiny "bubbles" of lipid molecules that can envelop the editing enzymes and carry them to specific cells, tissues, or organs.

Researchers at MIT, the Ragon Institute of MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard University are working on strategies for designing a universal flu vaccine that could work against any flu strain. In a new study, they describe a vaccine that triggers an immune response against an influenza protein segment that rarely mutates but is normally not targeted by the immune system. The vaccine consists of nanoparticles coated with flu proteins that train the immune system to create the desired antibodies.

Researchers at MIT, the Ragon Institute of MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard University are working on strategies for designing a universal flu vaccine that could work against any flu strain. In a new study, they describe a vaccine that triggers an immune response against an influenza protein segment that rarely mutates but is normally not targeted by the immune system. The vaccine consists of nanoparticles coated with flu proteins that train the immune system to create the desired antibodies.

A research team led by the University of Washington, Seattle, has reported that carefully constructed stacks of graphene can exhibit highly correlated electron properties. The team also has found evidence that this type of collective behavior likely relates to the emergence of exotic magnetic states.

A research team led by the University of Washington, Seattle, has reported that carefully constructed stacks of graphene can exhibit highly correlated electron properties. The team also has found evidence that this type of collective behavior likely relates to the emergence of exotic magnetic states.

Engineers from Rutgers University and Binghamton University have invented a way to spray nanowires made of a plant-based material that could be used in N95 mask filters, devices that harvest energy for electricity, and potentially for the creation of human organs. The method involves spraying methylcellulose, a renewable plastic material derived from plant cellulose, on 3D-printed and other objects ranging from electronics to plants.

Engineers from Rutgers University and Binghamton University have invented a way to spray nanowires made of a plant-based material that could be used in N95 mask filters, devices that harvest energy for electricity, and potentially for the creation of human organs. The method involves spraying methylcellulose, a renewable plastic material derived from plant cellulose, on 3D-printed and other objects ranging from electronics to plants.