Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators 2024

The Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection gathers some of the best research being conducted by materials scientists in the early stages of their independent career. Congratulations to all of the researchers featured.

A new perspective for the study/treatment of neurological conditions using in vivo photopharmacology is presented, including initial experimental and computational data.

DNA computing is a key molecular method in biological analysis. This review highlights advancements in DNA logic systems, material innovations, and applications in imaging, diagnosis, and treatment, addressing challenges and future directions.

Compared to traditional therapies, tumor immunotherapy has received a lot of attention and research focus due to its potential to activate both innate and adaptive immunity, cause low toxicity to normal tissue, and induce long-term immune activity.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignant neoplasms affecting the male population.

The integration of nanotechnology and medicine is a significant trend in modern healthcare, with a particular focus on its utilization in atherosclerosis imaging, presenting immense potential for advancement.

Hydrogels are limited by their inability to recapitulate native extracellular physicochemical properties. Current efforts using advanced materials science and engineering methods seek to form hydrogels with physiologically-relevant properties.

Biosensors integrated into closed-loop systems provide patient-specific adaptive therapies. These advanced devices have significant potential for managing chronic conditions by continuously adjusting therapeutic regimens based on physiological data.

Hydrogels revolutionize treating chronic skin diseases by enhancing drug delivery and reducing side effects. This review explores hydrogel design, drug integration, and clinical trials, highlighting their potential to improve efficacy and safety.

The figure shows how impaired regeneration fuels CLD progression. It depicts how 3D bioprinted models can overcome the limitations of animal models and clinical/histopathological data, and provide mechanistic insights into liver regeneration.

Schematic illustrations of the pathways through which magneto-responsive biocomposites promote wound healing.

This review probes the nanoparticle-assisted amplification strategies for lateral flow immunoassay.

Stimuli-responsive controlled release systems are emerging as powerful tools for precise neuromodulation. This review summarizes the recent progress in different release mechanisms and provides insights into future research direction.

This review highlights the ring-opening polymerization strategies of LA molecules and recent biomedical applications of PLA while discussing the challenges they face and future perspectives.

A comprehensive review of the current landscape and advancements in vaccine adjuvants, providing critical insights into research, development, regulatory licensing, and potential future opportunities for enhancing vaccine efficacy and safety.

Ionizable lipids with branched tails enhance the selective mRNA delivery to spleen, particularly to antigen-presenting cells.

Heparin, an anionic chiral biomolecule, binds to cationic achiral perylenediimide derivative to induce supramolecular helicity, forming chiral nanostructures in both aqueous and cell culture medium.

A novel drug delivery system hitchhiking albumin as a drug carrier with tuneable redox-responsive drug release.

Shifting from liquid disorder to liquid order phase in liposomes restricts the microenvironment of DI-8-ANEPPS, resulting in lengthening its fluorescence lifetime.

Conductive hydrogels patterned with a confocal laser can produce complex shapes that support neuronal growth for over 7 weeks.

This study develops lithium-doped amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles. These bioresorbable particles promote osteogenesis and angiogenesis, effectively inducing the formation of mature ectopic bone.

Selenium nanoparticle-functionalized injectable chitosan/collagen hydrogels for bone regeneration.

Oxidized PVA (OPVA-1.0) obtained by one-pot method is completely degraded in soil, which is further sprayed, dipped, or brushed conformally onto different perishable fruits to delay the ripening by 5–14 days as ideal packaging materials.

A novel biomimetic peroxidase nanozymes named Hemin-His-Fe (HHF)-peroxidase nanozyme was synthesized for the broad-spectrum degradation of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

Visual bacterial monitoring and responsive antimicrobial ability triggered by acid.

The present work reports the fabrication of nanocomposite films that demonstrated precise control and tuneable on-demand enzyme-mimicking activity, thus setting up a platform for future development of smart sensors for various applications.

Four-dimensional (4D) printing of hydrogels enabled the fabrication of complex scaffold geometries out of static parts.

Selective immune suppression of the NLRP3 inflammasome by Dapansutrile (OLT1177) decreases fibrotic capsule formation and increases angiogenesis in a mouse subcutaneous implantation model of the foreign body response.

Foodborne pathogens including Salmonella typhimurium cause millions of illnesses annually. A novel detection method using ICP-MS with magnetic and gold nanoparticles for Salmonella typhimurium shows high specificity and sensitivity.

A hydrogel-coupled and paper-based analytical device for H₂O₂ colorimetric detection by a smartphone was reported with a separation-free nature in complex biological samples.

Conformal coatings designed using a hyaluronic acid hydrogel system are used to encapsulate cells and to assemble multicellular structures.

A uniquely designed functional polymer cluster imparts cell adhesion characteristics to conventional synthetic hydrogels by being physically confined within the polymer network, without chemically modifying the hydrogel's polymer chains.

The clinical application of photodynamic therapy (PDT) has some limitations including poor tumor targeting properties, a high reductive tumor microenvironment, and inefficient activation of single cell death machinery.

Scaffolds for bone tissue engineering require considerable mechanical strength to repair damaged bone defects.

A hydrogel-based flexible sensor based on hydrophobicity-assisted metal ion coordination is reported for human movement monitoring and physiological signal detection.

By attaching hydrophilic OEG on different conjugation sites of SN38, isomeric self-assembling prodrugs were developed and self-assembled into giant nanotubes and filamentous assemblies, revealing the critical contribution of conjugation sites.

Supramolecular DNA nanogel was constructed by host–guest interaction from Y-DNA modified with methyl violet, dsDNA with azobenzene, and curcubit[8]uril. It possess stimuli responses, excellent biocompatibility and targeted drug transport ability.

Fluorinated BPA derivatives exhibited improved ¹⁰B accumulation in tumors, and enhanced T/B and T/N ratios compared to clinical boron drug fructose-BPA (f-BPA).

Radioactive hybrid semiconducting polymer nanoparticles are developed for imaging-guided photothermal–photodynamic–sonodynamic tri-modal therapy of breast cancer.

Schematic illustration of the comparative effectiveness of myocardial patches and intramyocardial injections in the treatment of myocardial infarction using a MitoQ/hydrogel system.

Nanovaccine conjugated via a retro-Diels–Alder reaction achieves lymph node deep penetration of antigens for enhancing vaccine efficacy.

A multifunctional nanostructure with synergistic MPTT/CDT antibacterial activities was designed for the effective treatment of wound infections.

The study focused on the fine refinement of PNIPAM-based materials, resulting in enhanced biocompatibility and drug loading for a smart hydrogel system with multi-responsive 5-FU release.

A glycolated polythiophene, p(g3T2), enables controlled drug loading/release of molecules with molecular weight of 800–6000 Da, due to large, reversible volume changes during electrochemical doping.

Reference-free traction force microscopy with a regular microdot array was designed and proposed to reveal the effects of adhesive proteins on cellular contractility, cytoskeleton structure, morphogenesis and mechanotransduction.

Design of experiments, a statistical optimization tool, was used to optimize the gelation time, compressive modulus, and stability of hydrazone-crosslinked hyaluronic acid hydrogels for controlled protein delivery.