Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

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Showing Spotlights 105 - 112 of 542 in category All (newest first):

 

Bioprinting techniques advance from shape to function

3DprintingBiofabrication is a revolutionizing toolkit for regenerative medicine that allows cells and other biomaterials to be precisely combined and patterned into three-dimensional (3D) constructs through automated, cell-friendly fabrication methods. With rapid advanced in 3D-printing hardware on one hand and bioink materials on the other, biofabrication techniques have gained significant momentum and provide a powerful approach to tackle major hurdles in the generation of engineered living tissues. While 3D bioprinting is still in its early stages, the remarkable leap it has made in recent years points to the eventual reality of lab-grown, functional organs.

Mar 25th, 2020

Novel magnetic nanostructures for emerging biomedical applications

vortexNew types of magnetic nanostructures have interesting properties that enhance novel medical applications in diagnosis and allow the exploration of new therapeutic techniques. In a new paper, researchers review promising new nanomaterials that can be used in cancer diagnosis and treatment, namely as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. One especially interesting advance involves exotic spin configurations, like a vortex state in nanodiscs, where magnetic moments arrange into a curly geometry.

Feb 6th, 2020

Detecting diseases with magnetically levitated plasma proteins

protein-analysisProteins present in human plasma mirror a person's physiology and the ability to rapidly profile the plasma proteome holds the promise of a revolution in point-of-care disease diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. New research findings suggest that levitation patterns of human plasma proteins using a magnetic levitation technique may provide useful information about the health spectrum of individual donors. The study reveals that optical images of magnetically levitated plasma proteins carry important information about the health spectrum of plasma donors.

Feb 3rd, 2020

Magnetically levitating proteins to precisely measure their density

levitating-proteinsThe density of proteins in solution is an important fundamental biophysical quantity that has not been accurately measured yet. This has led to extensive debate in the literature regarding the precise density value of proteins. This rough density metric can often lead to inaccurate estimates on the other physicochemical and composite protein features, especially after their interactions with other materials such as nanoparticles. Researchers have now demonstrated a new technique using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic levitation, which promises a more precisely measurement of the density of proteins in solution.

Jan 13th, 2020

Metal-organic-framework-derived 2D carbon nanosheets for localized bacterial eradication and anti-infective therapy

mofThe combination of multiple therapeutic modalities with synergetic effects is a promising approach to enhance antibacterial efficiency and possibly decrease the needed concentration of bactericidal reagents. In new work, scientists report a path to achieve efficient localized bacterial eradication and anti-infective therapy by combining the advantages of 2D graphene and metal organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon nanomaterials. This proposed MOF-derived 2D carbon nanosheets (2D-CNs) can form aggregations spontaneously under NIR irradiation and meanwhile exhibit localized triple bactericidal modalities.

Jan 2nd, 2020

Living biosensors and micromotors as platform for precision medicine

microparticlesOptical biosensors and micromotors that can sense and actuate biological environments are considered promising theranostic devices because of their high spatial resolution and flexibility. Advancing the field from synthetic sensors to living materials - which often can be incompatible with biological systems - researchers have assembled living biosensors and micromotors using an in vivo red blood cell (RBC) waveguide for applications in pH sensing and particle transport. This living biosensor can be used for the diagnosis of pH-related disorders of the blood; then, the waveguide can rotate as a micromotor and transport microparticles to the target region.

Dec 16th, 2019

Nanotechnology could be good for your heart

heart-tissueAmong the various therapeutic advances, regenerative medicine and nanotechnologies have demonstrated a considerable capacity to salvage or regenerate damaged heart tissue in animal models. The superior characteristics of nanobiomaterials have shown great promise in developing engineered cardiovascular constructs for a variety of tissue engineering applications. But in order to develop efficient nanotechnology-based regenerative medicine platforms in humans, clinicians and engineers must achieve a greater common understanding of the problems, challenges, and opportunities in both fields.

Sep 10th, 2019

Pre-coating liposomes with an artificial protein corona reduces capture by immune system

protein-coronaDespite considerable, decade-long efforts in the field of nanomedicine, fewer nanoparticle technologies than expected have made it to clinical trials. Understanding the role of the nano-bio interface - the protein corona - appears to be a critical factor for successful clinical translation of medical nanotechnologies. New research demonstrates that the protein corona controls the interaction of liposomes with immune cells and reveals that the pre-coating of liposomes with an artificial corona made of human plasma proteins significantly decreases capture by circulating leukocytes in whole blood.

Aug 21st, 2019