Themed collection 2014 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Hot Articles

Cellular interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM) are of fundamental importance in many normal and pathological biological processes, including development, cancer, and tissue homeostasis, healing and regeneration.

Functionalisation of biomaterials with therapeutic moieties (proteins, drugs, genes) is a pre-requisite to tissue regeneration and restoration of function following injury or disease.

Now and in the future, with the development of artificial biomolecules as well as nanomaterials, targeted drug delivery based on elegant biomolecule–nanomaterial conjugation approaches is being developed to achieve great versatility, additional functions, and further advances.

Biomimetic nanofibrous matrices were fabricated by electrospinning, phase separation and molecular self-assembly for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.

The possibility to exploit carbon-based nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and graphene as immunotherapeutic agents has interesting future prospects. In particular, their applications for anticancer treatment, imaging and vaccine development, together with their immunomodulator properties are highlighted.

The immobilization of biomolecules onto cellulose paper turns this environmentally friendly material into a platform for diagnostic devices.

The fabrication of conductive polymer nanowires and their sensing of nucleic acids, proteins and pathogens is reviewed in this feature article.

We review the recent progress in near-infrared nanomaterials from fabrication to application in biomedical imaging.

How does one avoid, control, or exploit adaptive immune responses using biomaterials? A review.

Micro- and nano-motors, a class of miniaturized manmade machines that are able to convert chemical or external energy into mechanical motion have been discussed and their application in the biomedical field was critically reviewed.

This review comprehensively summarizes and discusses stimuli-responsive and membrane-active peptides for biomedical applications including therapeutics delivery and antibiotics.

This review summarized the most advanced designs of stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems based on inorganic nanoparticles.

Ways to orchestrate the mechanical properties and colors of mussel-inspired metal cross-linked hydrogels based on DOPA functionalized cationic polymers are demonstrated. This is achieved by systematically varying the hardness of the coordinating metal and/or the cationic polymer.

Plasmonic nanotadpoles showed the tail length dependence of their cellular uptake, enabling photothermal treatment of cancer cells with high efficacy.

Through use of a closed-loop anode, we used electrogelation to fabricate silk films with controlled three-dimensional architectures.

A novel mussel-inspired adhesive can bond well to the surface of wet bone and be programmed to set in a suitable manner for sternal closure applications.

Bio-inspired metal coordination allows tuning of aqueous polymer network mechanics via crosslink dynamics simply by the choice of coordinating metal.

Ru(bpy)₃²⁺-conjugated tubulin is able to substantially enhance polymerization to form microtubules with increased rate at lower temperatures.

Bifunctional cellulose nanocrystal/silver nanohybrids can simultaneously enhance the mechanical, thermal and antibacterial properties of PHBV nanocomposites for potential food packaging applications.

Protein polymer nanoparticles decorated with the mitogenic human tear protein, lacritin, heal a defect in the corneal epithelium faster than a soluble control peptide.

A novel approach to control the selectivity of graphene-cyclodextrine sensors to cancer biomarkers by tailoring CD functionalization and assembly with graphene.

Farming of cancer vaccines: HER2-epitope display using the filamentous potato virus X platform yields HER2-specific sera in mice post-immunization.

Mesoporous NiO NFs show intrinsic peroxidase-like activity towards catalytic oxidation of TMB by H₂O₂ and, based on this process, cysteine can be detected with a LOD value ∼1.1 μM.

Micelles contracted and expanded alternately in response to UV/vis radiation, which offers a reversible on–off switch for controlling the drug release of the micelles.

Grafting zwitterionic polymer brushes via electrochemically mediated-surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization for anti-bacterial and anti-fouling applications.

A simple non-hydrothermal method was developed for synthesizing sugar coated 3 nm magnetic nanoparticles with dual T₁–T₂ MRI contrast enhancement and fast clearance.

Costs associated with bacterial infections in medical devices exceed $US 30 billion each year in the United States alone due to device revisions and patient treatment.

An aggregation-induced-emission active hemicyanine dye, TPE-Cy, shows high selectivity to homocysteine over glutathione and other amino acids.

Photoresponsive azobenzene-containing polycationic nonviral vectors synthesized by ATRP demonstrated enhanced gene transfection due to the increased endocytosis and UV light-triggered intracellular gene unpacking.

Fluorescent light-up probe with “AIE + ESIPT” characteristics for specific detection of lysosomal esterase.

A mechano-responsive topology provides a highly active yet autogenous surface for erythrocyte lysis towards microfluidic haematology platforms.

Electrospun bilayered scaffolds demonstrate how the specific properties of ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) modified polymers and peptide building blocks are united in new supramolecular biomaterial assemblies via a mix-and-match approach.

Ultra-small MnO nanoparticles pegylated with bis-phosphonate dendrons are efficient positive MRI contrast agents. They show prolonged vascular signal enhancement, followed by efficient excretion through the hepatobiliairy and urinary pathways. This considerably decreases the potential toxicity of MnO NPs.

A photoelectrochemical assay of SirT1 in different cell lines based on a semiconductor–polymer hybrid system was reported.

Surface grafted silane, phosphate and benzophenone dansyl molecules.

Structural analogy with antibacterial peptides provides antibacterial property in newly developed HAp/Au/arginine nanocomposite. The material possesses: (i) high antibacterial activity, (ii) high cytocompatibility and (iii) good stability in physiological environment.

A novel method was developed for the synthesis of boronic acid-functionalized imprinted silica nanoparticles for recognition and enrichment of glycoproteins.

Noncytotoxic ABFs, made from biocompatible ORMOCOMP and iron, can precisely navigate under low-strength magnetic fields and have potential biomedical applications.