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

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain, have figured out why the membranes that enclose our cells can push away nanoparticles that approach them. The researchers discovered that this repulsion – which notably affects neutral, uncharged nanoparticles – happens in part because smaller, charged molecules the electric field attracts crowd the membrane and push away the larger nanoparticles. Since many drug treatments are built around proteins and other nanoparticles that target the membrane, the repulsion could play a role in the treatments' effectiveness.

Tumors constantly shed DNA from dying cells, which briefly circulates in the patient's bloodstream before it is quickly broken down. But the amount of tumor DNA circulating at any given time is extremely small, so it has been challenging to develop tests sensitive enough to pick up that tiny signal. A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has now come up with a way to significantly boost that signal, by temporarily slowing the clearance of tumor DNA circulating in the bloodstream. The researchers developed a monoclonal antibody and a nanoparticle that can transiently interfere with the body's ability to remove circulating tumor DNA from the bloodstream.

Researchers from Northwestern University, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, and the Technical University of Denmark have developed a novel method to host gas molecules as they are being analyzed in real time, using honeycomb structures found in nature as inspiration for an ultra-thin ceramic membrane used to encase the sample. The encapsulation strategy works within high-vacuum transmission electron microscopes to enhance imaging of solid nanostructures. With the new technique, the resolutions were down to around 1.02 angstroms, compared to about 2.36 angstroms in previous experiments. The researchers said they've achieved the highest spatial resolution and spectral visibility recorded in their field to date.

Rice University scientists have uncovered a new way to make high-purity boron nitride nanotubes – hollow cylindrical structures that can withstand temperatures of up to 900°C (1,652°F) while also being stronger than steel by weight. The scientists figured out how to get rid of hard-to-remove impurities in boron nitride nanotubes using phosphoric acid and fine-tuning the reaction. "The challenge is that during the synthesis of the material, in addition to tubes, we end up with a lot of extra stuff," said Kevin Shumard, lead author on the study. "As scientists, we want to work with the purest material we can, so that we limit variables as we experiment."

Northwestern University researchers have developed the first selective therapy to prevent allergic reactions, which can range in severity from itchy hives and watery eyes to trouble breathing, and even death. To develop the new therapy, researchers decorated nanoparticles with antibodies capable of shutting down specific immune cells responsible for allergic responses. The nanoparticle also carries an allergen that corresponds to the patient's specific allergy. If a person is allergic to peanuts, for example, then the nanoparticle carries a peanut protein.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses. Their strategy uses tandem electrochemical and thermochemical reactions that are run at relatively low temperatures and ambient pressure and could successfully lock carbon away to offset carbon emissions.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a neural implant that provides information about activity deep inside the brain while sitting on its surface. The implant is made up of a thin, transparent, and flexible polymer strip that is packed with a dense array of graphene electrodes. The technology, tested in transgenic mice, brings the researchers a step closer to building a minimally invasive brain-computer interface that provides high-resolution data about deep neural activity by using recordings from the brain’s surface.

Using a new technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, diagnosing lung cancer could become as easy as inhaling nanoparticle sensors and then taking a urine test that reveals whether a tumor is present. The technology is based on nanosensors, which can be delivered by an inhaler or a nebulizer. If the nanosensors encounter cancer-linked proteins in the lungs, they produce a signal that accumulates in the urine, where it can be detected with a simple paper test strip.

Using imaging tools at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, researchers have detected a phenomenon known as pre-melting at temperatures far lower than those previously observed. Pre-melting is the reason a patch of ice can be slippery even on a frigid, clear day. Although the spot is frozen, some part at the surface is wet. To make this discovery, the team used Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE Office of Science user facility that enabled them grow and observe ice nanocrystals at temperatures below minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit. 

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has developed nanoparticles that can selectively bind to brain cells that mediate inflammation in Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that both Alzheimer's disease and aging strongly affect the ability of nanoparticles to cross the blood-brain barrier – a network of blood vessels surrounding the brain that tightly regulate which molecules can enter the brain. The researchers injected the nanoparticles into both older and younger mice that either had Alzheimer's disease or were healthy. In the brains of Alzheimer's disease mice, they found high concentrations of nanoparticles regardless of age (although older Alzheimer's disease mice had stronger concentrations than younger ones) and a significant amount of nanoparticles in the brains of healthy older mice.