Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Li Zhan, Shuang-Zhuang Guo, Joseph Kangas, Qi Shao, Maple Shiao, Kanav Khosla, Walter C. Low, Michael C. McAlpine, John Bischof
Summary: A novel approach has been developed to achieve high viability in microliter-size droplets using gold nanorods and plasmonic laser heating. This new method demonstrates significantly improved cooling and warming rates compared to traditional convective heat transfer methods.
Article
Oncology
Nuria Lafuente-Gomez, Paula Milan-Rois, David Garcia-Soriano, Yurena Luengo, Marco Cordani, Hernan Alarcon-Iniesta, Gorka Salas, Alvaro Somoza
Summary: The study introduced a smart gemcitabine delivery system based on magnetic nanoparticles, enabling selective release in pancreatic cancer cells via disulfide bonds. The modified nanoparticles showed promising potential for biomedical applications by reducing drug toxicity in non-cancerous cells, enhancing internalization, and synergistic cytotoxic effects when combined with magnetic hyperthermia.
Editorial Material
Endocrinology & Metabolism
J. Julie Kim
Summary: Over the past decade, there has been increased focus on modeling the human endometrium and its cyclical transformations, driven by the lack of significant progress in treating endometrial diseases. Gnecco and collaborators have now introduced a cutting-edge endometrial organoid culture using synthetic hydrogels with endometrial niche peptides and epithelial and stromal cells.
NATURE REVIEWS ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
John R. Clegg, Jessie A. Sun, Joann Gu, Abhijeet K. Venkataraman, Nicholas A. Peppas
Summary: The study developed nanogels modified with bioactive peptides for targeted drug delivery. The modified nanogels showed enhanced co-localization with target cells, but adding endosome disrupting peptides may affect their targeting ability. The results demonstrate the need to further investigate methods to maintain endosome disrupting activity.
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yanfang Chen, Xiaojie Sui, Tiantong Zhang, Jing Yang, Lei Zhang, You Han
Summary: Understanding the mechanism of ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) is crucial for designing new antifreeze protein mimetics and reducing IR-related damage. Through quantitative experimental methods and molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (PCBMA) can effectively inhibit ice recrystallization. This study uncovers the atomic-level details of the IRI mechanism in zwitterionic antifreeze protein mimetics and offers insights for the development of next-generation antifreeze protein mimetics.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
David Zada, Yaniv Sela, Noa Matosevich, Adir Monsonego, Tali Lerer-Goldshtein, Yuval Nir, Lior Appelbaum
Summary: This study reveals that DNA damage is a homeostatic driver for sleep, with neuronal activity and mutagens triggering repair during sleep. DDR proteins show increased activity during sleep, while Parp1 promotes sleep and repair, sensing cellular pressure for sleep.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jing Wen, Hang Sun, Zixuan Liu, Xiangyu Zhu, Zongming Qin, Erqun Song, Yang Song
Summary: Nanoplastics exposed to ultraviolet and ozone aging treatments showed differential adsorption characteristics towards plasma proteins and reduced cellular internalization, which alleviated their cytotoxic effects. This finding enriches the understanding of nanoplastics toxicity in a realistic scenario.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jing Wen, Hang Sun, Zixuan Liu, Xiangyu Zhu, Zongming Qin, Erqun Song, Yang Song
Summary: UV and ozone aging treatments were found to oxidize polystyrene NPs, altering their adsorption characteristics towards plasma proteins and reducing cellular internalization of NPs, thus relieving their cytotoxic effects.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dudley W. Lamming, Rozalyn M. Anderson
Summary: This article reveals an overlooked feature of yeast biology, which involves intra-cellular metabolite exchange, where cells adapt and respond as a community, and demonstrates that resource sharing linked to methionine metabolism enhances the longevity of cooperating cells.
Article
Oncology
Ines Marin, Manuel Serrano, Federico Pietrocola
Summary: Cancer therapy-induced senescence in cancer cells can interact with the immune system to enhance cancer surveillance and promote clearance of both senescent and non-senescent neoplastic cells. Recent studies have shown that senescent cancer cells have potent antigenicity and adjuvanticity and can induce strong CD8(+) T cell-dependent anticancer effects when used as vaccination agents.
Article
Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
Xuewei Zhang, Yuan Ren, Tiejun Lv, Lajos Hanzo
Summary: This article discusses the integration of wireless edge caching with scalable video coding to meet the diverse viewing quality requirements of multimedia users. The article introduces different types of cached contents and corresponding transmission schemes, summarizes the criteria for making caching decisions, and validates the effectiveness of the proposed random caching scheme through a case study and simulation results.
Article
Polymer Science
Zhengyu Piao, Jin Kyung Park, Madhumita Patel, Hyun Jung Lee, Byeongmoon Jeong
Summary: This study found that poly(L-alanine-co-L-lysine) (PAK) exhibits IRI activity similar to poly(vinyl alcohol) and generates cubic-to-spherical shaped ice crystals, showing superior performance. In contrast, poly(L-alanine-co-L-aspartic acid) (PAD) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with similar molecular weights did not provide significant IRI activity. FTIR and circular dichroism spectroscopies indicated that PAK forms alpha-helices, while PAD forms random coils in water. Additionally, dynamic ice shaping study suggested strong interaction between PAK and ice crystals, while PAD and PEG only weakly interact.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiuyi Shi, Zixuan Deng, Pei Zhang, Yao Wang, Guofu Zhou, Laurens T. Haan
Summary: A new strategy has been developed to create a dual-responsive elastic cholesteric polymer material, which can easily undergo color reflection changes and pattern preparation with high contrast. Due to its elastic nature, it can be used as a wearable device and as a multifunctional smart sensor for sweat and movement detection.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Weijing Zhang, Yajing Li, Zhendong Zhu
Summary: This study found that the addition of 0.25% carboxylated epsilon-poly-L-lysine to the freezing medium significantly improved the post-thaw boar sperm quality by protecting sperm mitochondrial function and antioxidant defense system.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tie Chang, Oyawale Adetunji Moses, Conghui Tian, Hai Wang, Li Song, Gang Zhao
Summary: In this study, tungsten diselenide (WSe2)-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and shown to exhibit synergistic ice regulation ability. These NPs were successfully used for cryopreservation of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC)-laden constructs, resulting in increased cell viabilities and good condition maintenance in vivo within 7 days. This work provides a novel strategy to suppress ice crystal formation and growth for the cryopreservation of cells, tissues, or organs.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Vinko Zadjelovic, Gabriel Erni-Cassola, Theo Obrador-Viel, Daniel Lester, Yvette Eley, Matthew I. Gibson, Cristina Dorador, Peter N. Golyshin, Stuart Black, Elizabeth M. H. Wellington, Joseph A. Christie-Oleza
Summary: Polyethylene (PE) is a highly durable synthetic material that is widely distributed in nature as a pollutant. This study found that a hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium in the plastisphere is capable of reducing the molecular weight of PE and inducing metabolic pathways for aliphatic compound degradation. These findings suggest that hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria may play a role in the biodegradation of PE.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Correction
Chemistry, Physical
Matthew T. Warren, Iain Galpin, Fabienne Bachtiger, Matthew I. Gibson, Gabriele C. Sosso
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Akalabya Bissoyi, Ruben M. F. Tomas, Yanan Gao, Qiongyu Guo, Matthew I. Gibson
Summary: This study successfully cryopreserved hepatocyte spheroids using macromolecular cryoprotectants added to DMSO solutions, which significantly improved post-thaw recovery and minimized cryo-injury related membrane damage. Adding polyampholytes also rescued reduced actin polymerization, potentially linked to intracellular ice formation. This research may facilitate access to off-the-shelf and ready-to-use frozen spheroids, reducing the need for in-house culturing and the number of in vivo experiments.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Marta M. P. S. Neves, Sarah-Jane Richards, Alexander N. N. Baker, Marc Walker, Panagiotis G. G. Georgiou, Matthew I. I. Gibson
Summary: Glycoforms of proteins can indicate disease state, making it crucial to develop new tools for detecting protein glycosylation. This study presents a sandwich bio-assay approach using antibodies immobilised on biolayer interferometry sensors to select proteins, and gold nanoparticles functionalised with lectins to identify specific glycoforms. The nanoparticles significantly enhance the signal, allowing the detection of glycoforms at low concentrations without the need for enrichment or manual steps. Proof of concept using prostate specific antigen shows the potential of glycoform analysis in distinguishing cancerous and non-cancerous status.
NANOSCALE HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nicola Judge, Panagiotis G. Georgiou, Akalabya Bissoyi, Ashfaq Ahmad, Andreas Heise, Matthew I. Gibson
Summary: Ice-binding proteins (IBPs) are found in extremophile organisms and have various (bio)-technological applications. This study investigates the use of high molecular weight polyproline as an ice recrystallization inhibitor (IRI) and demonstrates the potential of non-vinyl-based polymers in inhibiting ice recrystallization.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Lukas Eickhoff, Mira Kessler, Christopher Stubbs, Jakob Derksen, Martina Viefhues, Dario Anselmetti, Matthew I. I. Gibson, Berthold Hoge, Thomas Koop
Summary: This study explores the relationship between the molecular size of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and its ice nucleation activity. The experiments show that the ice nucleation activity of shorter PVA chains significantly decreases with a decrease in molar mass. The results support the view that PVA polymers and oligomers act as heterogeneous ice nucleators.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Huba L. Marton, Peter Kilbride, Ashfaq Ahmad, Matthew I. Gibson, Antonia P. Sagona
Summary: Bioprocessing and biotechnology utilize microorganisms for various applications, but bacteriophage contamination poses a challenge to product quality and requires extensive decontamination. We demonstrate that poly(acrylic acid) can prevent phage-induced killing of bacterial hosts and replication, without affecting recombinant protein expression. This simple, low-cost additive offers a practical solution to reduce phage contamination.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kathryn A. Murray, Yanan Gao, Christopher A. Griffiths, Nina L. H. Kinney, Qiongyu Guo, Matthew I. Gibson, Thomas F. Whale
Summary: 3D cell assemblies, such as spheroids, are more accurate in replicating in vivo conditions compared to traditional 2D cell monolayers, making them valuable tools for reducing or replacing animal testing. However, current cryopreservation methods are not well-suited for complex cell models, limiting their usage. By utilizing soluble ice nucleating polysaccharides, researchers have significantly improved spheroid cryopreservation outcomes, providing better cell protection compared to using DMSO alone. The extracellular function of these nucleators reduces the formation of fatal intracellular ice and prevents ice propagation between adjacent cells, potentially revolutionizing the banking and deployment of advanced cell models.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Callum Pritchard, Melissa Ligorio, Garrett D. Jackson, Matthew I. Gibson, Michael D. Ward
Summary: The presentation of glycans in multiple forms enhances their binding capacity to lectins. Current materials used as scaffolds for multivalent glycan arrays have limited reproducibility and predictability due to their intrinsic dispersity. In this study, self-assembled metal coordination cages with predictable ligand arrays were used to assemble a monodisperse library of glycoclusters displaying a range of valencies. The synthetic route was tolerant of biologically relevant glycans, and the glycocluster series demonstrated increased binding to lectins with increasing glycans. This strategy offers an alternative for controlling the valency of 3-D glycan arrays and has potential applications in sensing, imaging, and basic biology.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yanan Gao, Akalabya Bissoyi, Nina L. H. Kinney, Thomas F. Whale, Qiongyu Guo, Matthew I. Gibson
Summary: Spheroids are better at mimicking 3-D tissue niches than standard cell cultures, but cryopreserving them is challenging due to the limitations of conventional cryoprotectants. This study demonstrates that chemically-programmed extracellular ice nucleation combined with proline pre-conditioning can significantly improve post-thaw recovery of spheroids. This highlights the importance of identifying compounds and materials to address both biochemical and biophysical damage pathways beyond standard cryoprotectants.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Huba L. Marton, Peter Kilbride, Ashfaq Ahmad, Antonia P. Sagona, Matthew I. Gibson
Summary: Bioprocessing and biotechnology rely on microorganisms for the production of various products. However, phage contamination poses a significant challenge. In this study, we found that poly(acrylic acid) can prevent phage-induced killing and replication of bacteria without affecting recombinant protein expression. This simple and cost-effective additive offers a practical solution to reduce phage contamination.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Ruben M. F. Tomas, Robert Dallman, Thomas R. Congdon, Matthew I. Gibson
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of soluble ice nucleator materials for the cryopreservation of hepatocyte-derived cell lines and primary hepatocytes, aiming to facilitate high-throughput screening in drug discovery and development. The method preserves cell integrity, viability, and functionality, with higher recovery rates and a more convenient storage format compared to commercial cryopreserved hepatocytes.
BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Julian Micallef, Alexander N. Baker, Sarah-Jane Richards, Douglas E. Soutar, Panagiotis G. Georgiou, Marc Walker, Matthew I. Gibson
Summary: Glycan-lectin interactions are essential in biology, but current methods for studying them are expensive and not user-friendly. Glycosylated plasmonic nanoparticles, based on gold cores with polymeric tethers, offer a low-cost and easily interpretable approach to detect glycan-protein binding. This study provides guidelines for using these nanoparticles to probe new glycan/protein interactions, removing barriers for other users.
