Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators

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

Engineering the metabolism of microbes has allowed simultaneous co-production of functional small molecules and biopolymers.

Sex differences in biology are observed at multiple different length scales and across organ systems.

Fluidics are enabling new possibilities in bioelectronic medicine and research.

Water content derived from the environment is as an important a variable as temperature for affecting the conductivity and for understanding the charge transport mechanisms within conductive biomaterials as well as bioelectronic devices.

We summarise the superiorities of nanomotors over traditional nanomedicines, state-of-the-art applications and current challenges of using nanomotors in the biomedical field.

This review summarizes the regulations of liquid–liquid phase separation involving fused in sarcoma protein (FUS) by physical stimuli, biochemical modulators and protein structural modifications.

Herein, recent advances in nanomaterials integrated with 3D printing technologies are summarized to inform the reader about the cutting-edge technology in the development of advanced 3D-printed structures for biomedical applications.

This review highlights the PX-based DNA nanostructures in biological systems, dynamic systems, and biomedical contexts.

Strategies for reducing CRS in CAR-T cells capitalize on the specificity between CAR-T cells, cytokines, and their receptors, the role of macrophages in cytokine release, and genetic constructs to ablate CAR-T function reversibly and irreversibly.

Mitochondria play a critical role in cell growth and metabolism.

Bio-applied molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are biomimetic materials with tailor-made synthetic recognition sites, mimicking biological counterparts known for their sensitive and selective analyte detection.

Tumor microenvironment-activated longitudinal or transverse relaxation tuning shows highly promising applications. Smart MRI contrast agents exhibit high potential for tracking cancer progression and evolution and monitoring treatment process.

This review comprehensively covers the extraction, characterization, functionalization and biomedical applications of bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs).

Biomaterials demonstrate great potential in the treatment of psoriasis.

We are in the evolution of continuous monitoring of neural activity with non-invasive wearable EEGs. The development of hydrogel electrodes technology is important for home-use systems for long-term EEG monitoring and diagnostics of disease.

This paper systematically reviews recent studies on nanomedicines targeting sPLA2 overexpression in many inflammatory diseases and various types of cancer during the past few years.

Chitosan has been widely used to assemble different types of oral colon-targeted delivery systems, which attract great attention in the delivery of polyphenols to the colon for the treatment of colon and non-colon diseases.

We summarize the recent research progress concerning conjugated polymer-based luminescent probes for ratiometric detection of biomolecules.

This review mainly summarizes the research progress of cell membrane extraction and coating technology, with an emphasis on the treatment of cancer with cell membrane-engineered nanoparticles from various sources.

This review summarizes the recent research progress in various cell therapies and surveys the biomaterials developed to assist cell-based therapeutics for wide applications in diverse disease treatments.

This review covers the design principles of hemostatic biomaterials based on biochemical and mechanical mechanisms, and discusses the remaining challenges and immediate opportunities to manage non-compressible hemorrhage with biomaterials.

This review summarizes the development of reduction-responsive disulfide-crosslinked PCys²-based nanoparticles through one-pot polymerization, post-polymerization modification, and post-polymerization self-assembly for biomedical applications.

By integrating multiple types of guidance cues, electrospun nanofiber scaffolds can be used to manipulate cell behaviors and thus facilitate soft tissue regeneration, including nerves, skin, heart, blood vessels, and cornea.

Thioether-based reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsive polymers and polypeptides, with the ability to self-assemble in aqueous media and disassemble or being transformed in the presence of ROS, are ideal candidates for target biomedical therapies.

Magnetomechanical force for therapeutic applications.

This review provides the recent progress, intrinsic interactions between structures and bioactive performances, current limitations and future directions of bioactive hydrogels based on polysaccharides and peptides for soft tissue wound management.

With highly favorable properties such as enormous internal surface areas, high porosity and large flexibility, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising materials for applications such as gas storage and separation, catalysis, wastewater filtration, etc.

Supramolecular self-assembly offers the possibility for modulating nanostructures and reprogramming immunological properties, paving the way for enhanced cancer immunotherapy.

This review aims to highlight the recent advances, key limitations, and future directions of membrane-fusogenic biomimetic particles for biomedical applications.

Due to their excellent hydrophilicity, outstanding conductivity, unique structures, and physicochemical properties, MXenes have become a potential candidate material for flexible and wearable chemo- and bio-sensors.

Structurally precise biohybrid nanomaterials were created by grafting various polymers to DNA with high conversions under ambient conditions. They are patterned onto DNA origami nanostructures to form customizable surface contours.

Nanoparticles from BODIPY photosensitizers decorated with chiral amino acids have been prepared and exhibit different photodynamic activities.

Soft actuators with stimuli-responsiveness have great potential in biomedical applications such as drug delivery and minimally invasive surgery.

sgRNA/Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) provide a site-specific robust gene-editing.

We report that Cu-MNCS-AIPH@PAA with high biocompatibility can be used for highly efficient therapy of PCa through the cooperative effect of PTT, CDT, and alkyl radical generation triggered by the photothermal effect.

The obtained IEICO NPs possess a high ¹O₂ quantum yield (11%) and PCE (85.4%) with an ultra-high light energy utilization efficacy of 96.4%, and therefore can be applied for near-infrared laser triggered synergetic photodynamic and photothermal therapy.

Neutrobots carrying antitumor drugs facilitate considerable safety in vivo upon intravenous administration with high dose.

We demonstrate the effects of protein precoating on biomolecular corona formation and immune cell interactions of metal–phenolic network nanocapsules using proteomics analyses and human blood assays.

Bacillus subtilis are probiotic microbes that are difficult to formulate when they are not in their spore form. Using self-assembling coatings, these cells were successfully protected during the freeze-drying process.

A biomimetic ‘chemical-tongue’ combining polymeric probes with pattern-recognition techniques is presented, which can generate fluorescence-response patterns from serum-supplemented culture media to non-invasively monitor stem cell differentiation.

Injectable hydrogels capable of releasing the desired amount of insulin under hyperglycemic conditions will significantly advance smart insulin development. We report glucose-responsive hydrogels with programmable insulin release properties.

A SiO₃²⁻-releasing hydrogel (SRH) demonstrates multiple functions for skeletal muscle regeneration. The SRH with bioinspired biodegradation behavior enhances vascularized muscle regeneration.

CeO₂ and MnO₂ nanocomposites, with advantages of high biocompatibility, passive liver-targeting and short-term metabolic excretion, have the capacity to scavenge ROS and regulate the inflammation to alleviate hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury.

Carboxy-functionalized capsule polymer particles possessing neutral-alkali pH responsive controlled release capability were newly fabricated by interfacial photocrosslinking of spherical photoreactive polymer particles.

DNA functionalized Multi layered Surface Crosslinked Micelles (mlSCMs) can compartmentalize two small molecule cargo in distinct layers. In response to the appropriate trigger, mlSCMs can release cargo for chemical and biochemical applications.

Black phosphorus (BP) nanoflakes have shown high antimicrobial activity. The interaction of microbial cells and black phosphorus nanoflakes was investigated using microscopic techniques and synchrotron source ATR-FTIR spectroscopy.