Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators

Journal of Materials Chemistry B profiles contributors to the Emerging Investigators issue.

Gels that display light-induced motile, life-like actions are reviewed and their potential applications as light-driven soft actuators are also discussed.

The potential of H₂S can be realised with design of macromolecular prodrugs.

Bioelectronic platforms can be used for electrophysiology, monitoring and stimulating specific cellular functions.

Stimuli triggered drug delivery systems enable controlled release of drugs at the optimal space and time, thus achieving optimal therapeutic effects.

This article highlights recent signal amplification techniques for enhancing the detection sensitivity of colorimetric lateral flow assay.

Mechanical determination of particle–cell interactions and the associated biomedical applications.

Smart bioelectronics fabricated from nanocarbons have the potential to enable seamless integration with electrogenic cells and tissues.

Probing and facilitating microbial extracellular electron transfer through nanotechnology enabled platforms are transforming bioenergetic, bioelectronic, and other related research areas.

In this work, we report the facile preparation of reduction-responsive cell penetrating nanofibers through the design and self-assembly of integrated multidomain peptides that have tunable surface charges and nanostructures in response to a chemically reducing environment. Stimuli-responsive cell penetrating activity was demonstrated for improved drug efficacy in HeLa cell culture compared with the non-responsive nanofibers.

Here arsenohydrogels are introduced for the first time as functional, tuneable and responsive hydrogels.

This paper reports an in situ forming implant based on responsive nanogels that gives tuneable long-acting drug release.

An injectable dipeptide–fullerene supramolecular hydrogel is designed for photodynamic antibacterial therapy.

Dynamic host–guest scaffold utilizes bioorthogonal small molecule to achieve therapeutic control.

This study shows that it is possible to shift the polymorph of pharmaceuticals through crystallization in a nanocellulose gel. This is a demonstration of using natural materials that are readily surface modified to form a tailored environment for drug crystallization.

Nanoparticle delivery to tumor tissue is one of the most important applications of nanomedicine.

The efficacy of nucleic acid therapies can be limited by unwanted degradation.

Liposomes are able to load a range of cargos and have been used for drug delivery applications, including for stimuli-triggered drug release.

An anti-thrombogenic, elastic, biodegradable polyurethane with covalently incorporated drug can reduce blood platelet deposition on the surface.

We show here a low molecular weight hydrogelator based on a functionalised dipeptide which is stable down to temperatures of −12 °C despite being made from >99% water. With the addition of glycerol this can be lowered further to −40 °C. At these colder temperatures there is no effect on the mechanical properties of the gels.

Janus hybrids with amphiphilic structures were used for the sensitive detection of small metabolites.

A reduction-cleavable polyphosphoester-functionalized poly(disulfide) nanoparticle has been constructed for the intracellular triggered release of doxorubicin in tumor chemotherapy.

Dynamic covalent polymers made from modified amino acids complex nucleic acids and deliver siRNA in living cells.

A new class of QD-encapsulated core–shell barcode particles for biomedical applications were generated using a capillary microfluidic device.

New fluorescent sensors with excellent turn-on ratio and low energy excitation provide Mg²⁺ detection in live cells with high selectivity.

A statistical fluorocopolymer shows dramatically higher transfection efficiency in gene delivery than a block one.

Self-immolative polymers, which exert potent antibacterial activity with low hemolytic toxicity to red blood cells, are triggered to unzip into small molecules by a chemical stimulus.

Halloysite is weakly toxic to cells and can be excreted out through the gastrointestinal metabolism of zebrafish.

Imparting electroconductive and nanotopographical cues to biodegradable silk–fibroin films enhanced the maturation of cultured human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.