Reviews & Analysis

Self-assembled weakly negative nanoparticles bearing an octet of short interfering RNAs, targeting ligands and endosomolytic peptides lead to efficient gene silencing in a mouse model of prostate cancer.

A vaccine based on induced pluripotent stem cells mimicking the expression of tumour-cell antigens induces significant antitumour immune responses in mouse models.

Lipoprotein nanoparticles delivering an inflammation-targeting signalling inhibitor reduce vascular inflammation in atherosclerotic mice.

Micelles of a superhydrophilic zwitterionic polymer covalently linked to a superhydrophobic lipid remain stable at extremely dilute conditions and enhance the delivery of hydrophobic chemotherapeutics in vivo.

Topically applied spherical nucleic acids targeting an intracellular mRNA biomarker associated with abnormal scarring enable the fluorescent detection of abnormal scars during wound healing.

Shaping an X-ray beam as a thin sheet generates Cherenkov emissions that enable molecular sensing at submillimetre resolution and deep into tissue in small animals.

A microfluidic device for assaying neutrophil motility in blood samples from sepsis patients and a machine-learning algorithm trained with the motility data enable a faster and accurate sepsis diagnosis.

A method that separates overlapping cardiovascular dynamics arising from the beating of the heart, respiration and signal relaxation simplifies and quantifies cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

A scalable and fast method for profiling single-molecule protein–protein interactions predicts the sensitivity of cells to inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor, which is typically overexpressed in cancer.

A stiffness-sensing piezoelectric microsystem that can be mounted onto conventional biopsy needles distinguishes abnormal tissue from healthy tissue.

Smoking status, blood pressure, age and other cardiovascular risk factors can be predicted from retinal images by using deep learning.

T cells can be efficiently and controllably expanded for adoptive cell therapy in a culture system consisting of lipid bilayers bearing membrane-bound cues for the stimulation of T-cell receptors and of supporting silica microrods that release a T-cell proliferation factor.

A microfluidic device powers DNA-methylome sequencing of CpG islands and promoter regions, with minimal sample loss.

Substituting growth factors with small molecules in the culture medium for the expansion of human pluripotent stem cells reduces costs and lot-to-lot variability.

Synthetic mammalian cells engineered to synthesize a painkiller in response to volatile spearmint reduce chronic pain in mice and do not seem to elicit adverse effects.

Nanoparticles carrying an antibiotic and bearing a peptide that targets the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus effectively suppress staphylococcal infections in mice.

Single-cell traction-force measurements performed on fluorescently labelled elastomeric surfaces can probe the physiological and pathological behaviour of thousands of cells in a single experiment.

The combination of ultrafast ultrasound and positron emission tomography–computed tomography enables the simultaneous 3D imaging of anatomy and metabolism at high resolution.

This Review discusses technology for the isolation and phenotypic profiling of circulating tumour cells from blood for the identification of those with high metastatic potential as well as requirements for clinical applications of the cells.

This Perspective argues that a significant number of bone fractures in the elderly are insufficiency fractures caused by cyclic loading from daily activities, which induces fatigue cracking, rather than the result of impacts or trauma.