Biomedical

In a first demonstration of "electron videography," researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and the Georgia Institute of Technology have captured a microscopic moving picture of the delicate dance between proteins and lipids found in cell membranes. The researchers achieved videography by combining a novel water-based transmission electron microscopy method with detailed, atom-level computational modeling. The water-based technique involves encapsulating nanometer-scale droplets in graphene so they can withstand the vacuum in which the microscope operates.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists, Northwestern University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Grove Biopharma, Inc, in Chicago have developed a nanomaterial that could be an effective tool for treating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The nanomaterial, called a protein-like polymer, changed the interaction between two proteins that are believed to be involved in setting the stage for diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Researchers from the University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and Dow Chemical have accomplished high-resolution, efficient 3D chemical imaging for the first time at the one-nanometer scale. Up to this point, nanomaterial researchers have had to choose between imaging 3D structure or 2D chemical distribution.

A group of researchers led by Cornell University has identified a new way to harness the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of a botanical compound to make nanofiber-coated cotton bandages that fight infection and help wounds heal more quickly. The biofunctionalized dressing has excellent antibacterial performance against gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial species and effectively eradicated E. coli and staph bacteria in testing.

A multidisciplinary research team at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered a new way to kill a tumor by disrupting its acidic "microenvironment" without harming normal tissue. The target of this approach is hydroxyapatite, a naturally occurring mineral that is a major component of bone and teeth but is also produced by some tumors. The researchers synthesized a nanoparticle that, when delivered via an injectable solution, bound to calcium on tumor-associated hydroxyapatite crystals, causing them to dissolve.

Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Southern Methodist University have developed a less expensive way to detect nuclease digestion – one of the critical steps in many nucleic acid sensing applications, such as those used to identify COVID-19. This low-cost tool, called a Subak reporter, is based on fluorescent silver nanoclusters. Subak reporters cost just $1 per nanomolecule to make, while the currently used technology costs $62 per nanomolecule to produce.

Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed new nanoparticles that can “hitch a ride” on immune cells. Because of their tiny size, the nanoparticles can tag along directly into lymph nodes and help metastasis show up on MRIs, where it would otherwise be too hard to detect. The process offers game-changing benefits for the early detection of cancer metastasis in the lymph nodes.

Researchers from Harvard University and Utrecht University in The Netherlands have developed a previously elusive way to improve the selectivity of catalytic reactions, adding a new method of increasing the efficacy of catalysts for a potentially wide range of applications in various industries, including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Researchers led by Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have introduced a pioneering approach aimed at combating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The study focused on disrupting a type of protein-protein interaction that plays a role in the body's antioxidant response. The research holds promise for mitigating the cellular damage that underlies neurodegenerative diseases.

A team of researchers from Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, and the University of Rhode Island has developed a novel method for producing nanoparticles of diverse morphologies that can act as nanocarriers for delivering therapeutics to cells. The researchers used these nanocarriers to deliver a molecule that can boost the immune system to fight viral infections and a molecule that can slow melanoma tumor growth.