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Category: nanotechnology

Peptide nanotubes show promise for overcoming chemotherapy resistance

A research team at CiQUS (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain) has unveiled an innovative molecular approach that enables anticancer drugs to reach the nucleus of tumor cells, where they can exert their therapeutic effect. The study focused on doxorubicin, a widely used chemotherapy agent. Prolonged exposure to this drug often leads to the emergence of resistant cells, a major clinical challenge that this strategy successfully overcomes while preserving the drug’s antitumor activity.

The approach builds on a simple but powerful concept: the ability of cyclic peptides —small amino acid rings— to stack and self-assemble into hollow cylindrical structures (nanotubes) on the surface of cancer cell membranes. The system, developed by the team led by Juan R. Granja, couples doxorubicin to these peptides and directs it to the through a delivery pathway that differs from the drug’s usual mechanism. This allows the drug to bypass the cellular resistance mechanisms that would normally deactivate it.

Compared with healthy cells, cancer cell membranes contain higher levels of negatively charged lipids. The cyclic peptides used in this study display a strong affinity for these anionic surfaces, facilitating their interaction with . As a result, the peptide–drug conjugates enter resistant cells and travel towards the nucleus, where doxorubicin intercalates with DNA to trigger its cytotoxic effect.

Nasal spray with gold nanoparticles delivers targeted treatment to the brain

Tiny gold particles that act as carriers for lithium can be delivered directly to the brain in the form of a nasal spray. Developed by scientists at the Università Cattolica Rome campus/Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, the new nanotechnological device can be used for the treatment and prevention of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.

Lithium is already in for manic-depressive syndrome, but in oral formulation it is not free of side effects. It is used to combat neuropsychiatric diseases such as bipolar disorder, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, and brain infections such as those caused by Herpes Simplex Virus type 1, which several recent studies have linked to an increased risk of neurological diseases.

Published in the journal Advanced Materials and already patented, the idea is the result of a study that demonstrated that it is possible to directly inhibit the activity of an enzyme that plays a key role in the development of these diseases (glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta, GSK-3β) directly in the brain by using lithium delivered by intranasally administered .

Molecular motors drive new non-invasive cancer therapies

Imagine tiny machines, smaller than a virus, spinning inside cancer cells and rewiring their behavior from within. No surgery, no harsh chemicals, just precision at the molecular level.

Two researchers from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University are investigating light-activated molecular motors—nanometer-sized machines that can apply from within cells to target and selectively disrupt cancerous activity.

Chemical engineering professor Dr. Jorge Seminario and postdoctoral associate Dr. Diego Galvez-Aranda have contributed to pioneering research by demonstrating a new frontier in non-invasive cancer therapies. The recently published manuscript in the Journal of the American Chemical Society continues this line of investigation.

Breakthrough mirror-image nanopores open door to new biomedical applications

For the first time, researchers have successfully fabricated and characterized a fully functional mirror-image nanopore—a molecular gateway built entirely from D-amino acids, the mirror-image forms of the natural building blocks of proteins. The work, led by Prof. Dr. Kozhinjampara R. Mahendran at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology (India) in collaboration with Constructor University and other partners, demonstrates not only a major milestone in nanoscience but also opens promising biomedical applications, including potential cancer therapies.

Proteins in nature are almost exclusively built from L-amino acids, while their D-amino acid counterparts usually play only minor roles. Constructing entire proteins from D-amino acids is extremely challenging, yet offers striking advantages: Such mirror-image structures are often more resistant to degradation and may interact differently with biological systems.

In this study, the team designed a synthetic stable and well-defined D-peptide called DpPorA. Remarkably, by modifying the charge distribution, they were able to create superior versions of these pores with enhanced conductance and selectivity under different salt conditions.

Nanoscale X-ray imaging reveals bulk altermagnetism in MnTe

Magnetic materials have been known since ancient times and play an important role in modern society, where the net magnetic order offers routes to energy harvesting and data processing. It is the net magnetic moment of ferromagnets that has so far been key to their applications, with an alternative type of magnetic material, the antiferromagnet, deemed “useless” by their discoverer Louis Néel in his Nobel Prize lecture.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in antiferromagnets, which offer a number of exciting advantages for technologies including robust order and ultrafast dynamics—however with the challenge that they are hard to detect and manipulate electrically.

The recent discovery of a new type of magnetic order—the altermagnet—has overturned this view: by combining antiferromagnetic ordering with ferromagnet-like properties such as spintronic effects, they promise a multitude of advantages for future applications.

Nanoparticle vaccine prevents multiple cancers and stops metastasis in mice

A study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers demonstrates that their nanoparticle-based vaccine can effectively prevent melanoma, pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer in mice. Not only did up to 88% of the vaccinated mice remain tumor-free (depending on the cancer), but the vaccine reduced—and in some cases completely prevented—the cancer’s spread.

The study is published in Cell Reports Medicine.

“By engineering these nanoparticles to activate the immune system via multi-pathway activation that combines with cancer-specific antigens, we can prevent with remarkable survival rates,” says Prabhani Atukorale, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst and corresponding author on the paper.

Algorithm reveals ‘magic sizes’ for assembling programmable icosahedral shells at minimal cost

Over the past decade, experts in the field of nanotechnology and materials science have been trying to devise architectures composed of small structures that spontaneously arrange themselves following specific patterns. Some of these architectures are based on so-called icosahedral shells, structures with 20 different triangular phases that are symmetrically organized.

Smart microfibers turn everyday objects into health care monitors and energy devices

New research led by the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (GZ) and Queen Mary University of London, could redefine how we interact with everyday tools and devices—thanks to a novel method for printing ultra-thin conductive microfibers.

Imagine fibers thinner than a human hair (nano-to micro-scale in diameter) that can be tuned on-demand to add sensing, energy conversion and electronic connectivity capabilities to objects of different shapes and surface textures (such as glass, plastic and leather). This is what the researchers have achieved, including in unconventional materials like porous graphene aerogels, unlocking new possibilities for human-machine interaction in various everyday settings.

The researchers present a one-step adaptive fiber deposition process using 3Dprinting, set up to satisfy the fast-changing demands of users. The process enables the on-demand deployment of conductive material layers on different surface areas, dependent on the model’s geometry, at the point of use. The findings are reported in the journal Advanced Fiber Materials.

Bacterial enzyme and nanoparticle discoveries hold promise for treating gut pain

Abdominal pain is a hallmark of many digestive disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. In an effort to develop targeted treatments for gut pain, scientists have discovered a new enzyme in gut bacteria and are using nanoparticles to deliver drugs inside cells.

Currently, there are no treatments specifically for gut pain, and existing painkillers are often insufficient at managing symptoms. These drugs—including opioids, NSAIDs, and steroids—also come with side effects, some of which directly harm the digestive system.

In two new studies published in Cell Host & Microbe and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers focused on PAR2, a receptor involved in pain signaling that has been shown to play a role in gastrointestinal diseases marked by inflammation and pain. Found on the lining of the gut and on pain-sensing nerves in the gut, PAR2 is activated by certain enzymes called proteases and is a promising target for treating gut pain—in numerous ways.

Two-step excitation unlocks and steers exotic nanolight

An international team of researchers has developed a novel technique to efficiently excite and control highly-confined light-matter waves, known as higher-order hyperbolic phonon polaritons. Their method not only sets new records for the quality and propagation distance of these waves but also uses a sharp boundary to create a form of pseudo-birefringence, sorting and steering the waves by mode into different directions.

This advance, published in Nature Photonics, opens new avenues for developing nanoscale optical devices for high-speed signal processing and ultra-sensitive chemical detection.

In the quest for ultra-compact, light-based circuits, scientists are turning to polaritons—hybrid modes formed from the coupling of light with optically active material excitations such as plasmons or phonons. These remarkable quasiparticles can squeeze light into spaces far smaller than its natural wavelength, overcoming the conventional limits of far-field optics. However, exciting most confined variants—higher-order polaritons—has been a major challenge, as they demand a much larger momentum boost than single-step excitation methods can deliver.

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