Biomedical

Scientists from The Johns Hopkins University, the Mayo Clinic, and Tufts University have developed a potential new way to treat a variety of rare genetic diseases marked by too low levels of specific cellular proteins. To boost those proteins, the scientists created a genetic "tail" that attaches to messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that churn out the proteins. To deliver these genetic tails, also called “mRNA boosters,” the scientists encased them in nanoparticles covered in lipids. The nanoparticles are naturally absorbed by cells through their fatty outer membranes.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut will grow rod-shaped nanoparticles, called Janus base nanotubes, on the International Space Station. These nanotubes will carry interleukin-12, a protein produced naturally by the human body to stimulate the development of helper T-cells, immune cells known for killing pathogens and cancer cells. With cross sections of just 20 nanometers, the nanotubes can slip into the cracks and attack solid tumors from the inside and then release interleukin-12 inside a tumor. Manufacturing these nanotubes in space has many advantages.

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island and Brown University have shown that carbon nanotubes could be combined with machine learning to detect subtle differences between closely related immune cells. The researchers used an in vitro experiment that involved placing live cells into a culture dish, adding carbon nanotubes, and then using a specialized microscope with an infrared camera to observe the emitted light from each cell. The camera generated millions of data points, each of which reflected cellular activity.

Researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed a patented technology that can inhibit and prevent the growth of pancreatic cancer in the liver. The technology’s goal is to reprogram the liver’s immune defense to attack pancreatic cancer. Key to this technology are liver-targeting nanoparticles that deliver two key components: an mRNA vaccine targeting an immune-activating marker commonly found in pancreatic cancer, and a small molecule that boosts the immune response.

Using an approach called DNA origami, scientists at Caltech have developed a technique that could lead to cheaper, reusable biomarker sensors for quickly detecting proteins in bodily fluids, eliminating the need to send samples out to lab centers for testing. DNA origami enables long strands of DNA to fold, through self-assembly, into molecular structures at the nanoscale. In this study, DNA origami was used to create a lilypad-like structure – a flat, circular surface about 100 nanometers in diameter, tethered by a DNA linker to a gold electrode.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai have shown that a combination of messenger RNA (mRNA) and a new lipid nanoparticle could help heal damaged lungs. The researchers matched up mRNA with just one unique lipid nanoparticle – ionizable amphiphilic Janus dendrimers – which are organ-specific. When it reaches the lung, the mRNA instructs the immune system to create transforming growth factor beta, a signaling molecule that is used to repair tissue.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Pennsylvania State University have discovered that Zika virus builds a series of tiny tubes, called tunneling nanotubes, that facilitate the transfer of viral particles to neighboring uninfected cells. The tiny conduits also provide a means to transport RNA, proteins and mitochondria, a cell’s main source of energy, from infected to neighboring cells.

Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Cancer; Caltech; California State University, Northridge; and Technion-Israel Institute in Haifa, Israel, have designed nanobioparticles that can cross the protective blood–brain barrier and deliver therapy directly into cancerous tumor cells. The findings could help clinicians target brain tumors previously unreachable by chemotherapy.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that ferumoxytol, an U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved iron oxide nanoparticle formulation, greatly reduces infection in patients diagnosed with apical periodontitis. The researchers showed that topical applications of ferumoxytol in combination with hydrogen peroxide potently disrupt biofilms – dense, sticky communities of bacteria that attach to surfaces and cause infections.

Using the nanostructures and microstructures found on Morpho butterfly wings, scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a simple and inexpensive way to analyze cancerous tissues. Fibrosis, the accumulation of fibrous tissue, is a key feature of many diseases, including cancer, and evaluating the extent of fibrosis in a biopsy sample can help determine whether a patient’s cancer is in an early or advanced stage.