Biological sciences articles within Nature Materials

Featured

  • Article |

    An intelligent DNA nanodevice, composed of DNA origami nanosheets and a thrombin-responsive DNA fastener, accurately delivers the appropriate dose of tissue plasminogen activator following activation by distinct thrombosis events.

    • Jue Yin
    • , Siyu Wang
    •  & Lianhui Wang

  • News & Views |

    Cancer cells adjust the composition of their glycocalyx to increase its thickness and create a physical barrier that shields them from immune recognition and engagement.

    • Edward N. Schmidt
    •  & Matthew S. Macauley

  • Article |

    A nanoscale polymer layer formed by mucins at the surface of tumour cells protects them against immune cell attack. This shield can be circumvented through immune cell engineering, using chimeric antigen receptors to stimulate natural killer and T cells or by tethering glycocalyx-editing enzymes to immune cells.

    • Sangwoo Park
    • , Marshall J. Colville
    •  & Matthew J. Paszek

  • Editorial |

    The fundamental discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 were awarded with this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine.

  • News & Views |

    Post-infusion poly(ethylene glycol) surface modification of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells and a subcutaneous chemokine-adsorbing hydrogel address cytokine release syndrome and the neurotoxicity side effects of CAR T cell therapy against tumours.

    • Chuang Liu
    •  & Khalid Shah

  • News & Views |

    Three protein interaction surfaces are computationally designed into one protein subunit to enable their accurate assembly into three-dimensional crystals with user-specified lattice architectures.

    • Eduardo Anaya-Plaza
    •  & Mauri A. Kostiainen

  • News & Views |

    Lymphatic vessels within and near to tumours facilitate nanoparticle transport out of tumours, with ramifications in the design and implementation of next-generation clinical cancer nanomedicines.

    • Meghan J. O’Melia
    •  & Susan N. Thomas

  • News & Views |

    Non-equilibrium thermodynamics describes activity-stabilized mixed states in complex active-matter systems.

    • Tian Huang
    • , Qi Pan
    •  & Steve Granick

  • Article |

    The process of protein crystallization is poorly understood and difficult to program through the primary sequence. Here the authors develop a computational approach to designing three-dimensional protein crystals with prespecified lattice architectures with high accuracy.

    • Zhe Li
    • , Shunzhi Wang
    •  & David Baker

  • Article |

    Nanoparticle retention inside tumours has been associated with lymphatic vessel collapse. It is now shown that nanoparticles exit from solid tumours through lymphatic vessels in or surrounding the tumour by a nanoparticle-size-dependent mechanism.

    • Luan N. M. Nguyen
    • , Zachary P. Lin
    •  & Warren C. W. Chan

  • Article |

    Microtubules respond to mechanical compression by deforming, becoming more stable, which results in CLASP2 recruitment to the distorted shaft—a process crucial for cell migration through confined spaces.

    • Yuhui Li
    • , Ondřej Kučera
    •  & Manuel Théry

  • News & Views |

    Locally confined epithelial malignancies undergo a phase transition from a solid-like to liquid-like state, a process called unjamming, where associated chronic intracellular strain causes nuclear envelope rupture, leading to the emergence of pro-metastatic traits due to cGAS–STING pathway activation.

    • Matthew Deyell
    •  & Samuel F. Bakhoum

  • Review Article |

    RNA-based therapeutics hold promise for the treatment of several diseases. This Review provides an overview of hydrogels for RNA delivery, discussing how the chemical nature and physical properties of hydrogels can be explored for tailored RNA loading and release, and highlighting the use of these materials in biomedical applications.

    • Ruibo Zhong
    • , Sepehr Talebian
    •  & Jinjun Shi

  • News & Views |

    A bioengineered model incorporating a synthetic extracellular matrix recapitulates the lymphoid tumour microenvironment, making it a valuable tool for drug testing and designing personalized therapies.

    • Akhilesh K. Gaharwar
    •  & Irtisha Singh

  • News & Views |

    A polymeric nanoparticle adjuvant containing a Toll-like receptor 7 agonist elicits broad protection against viral challenges.

    • Jorge Huete-Carrasco
    •  & Ed C. Lavelle

  • News & Views |

    A large-scale screening identifies an inhalable polymer nanoparticle formulation that safely and effectively delivers therapeutic mRNA molecules to the lungs of several animal species.

    • Ronnie H. Fang
    •  & Liangfang Zhang

  • Editorial |

    Click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry have finally been recognized with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

  • News & Views |

    Soft actuators composed of a tough bioadhesive/elastomer shell encapsulating a stimuli-responsive metallic spring provide in situ mechanical stimulation of skeletal muscles to promote muscle tissue rehabilitation and prevent atrophy.

    • Xuanhe Zhao

  • Article |

    Viscoelasticity is a universal mechanical feature of the extracellular matrix. Here the authors show that the extracellular matrix viscoelasticity guides tissue growth and symmetry breaking, a fundamental process in morphogenesis and oncogenesis.

    • Alberto Elosegui-Artola
    • , Anupam Gupta
    •  & David J. Mooney

  • Review Article |

    This Review discusses recent progress in bioinspired nanocomposite design, emphasizing the role of hierarchical structuring at distinct length scales to create multifunctional, lightweight and robust structural materials for diverse technological applications.

    • Dhriti Nepal
    • , Saewon Kang
    •  & Hendrik Heinz

  • News & Views |

    In the absence of biochemical gradients, cancer cell migration over fibrillar isotropic collagen can occur by a mechanical self-steering process involving asymmetric matrix deformation from the rear.

    • Katarina Wolf
    •  & Peter Friedl

  • Letter |

    Reconstituted cytoskeleton networks linked with catch bonds display increased mechanical strength and crack resistance than those containing slip bonds, and simultaneously being more deformable, which allows for better adaptability to new mechanical environments.

    • Yuval Mulla
    • , Mario J. Avellaneda
    •  & Gijsje H. Koenderink

  • News & Views |

    By maximizing cell–substrate force transmission, cancer cells can migrate towards either stiffer or softer substrate regions.

    • Amy E. M. Beedle
    •  & Pere Roca-Cusachs

  • Comment |

    Semi-synthetic goldilocks material design integrates the tunable characteristics of synthetic materials and the refined complexity of natural components, enabling for the progress of biomaterials across length scales. Accelerated translational success may thus be possible for more personalized and accessible products.

    • Alessondra T. Speidel
    • , Christopher L. Grigsby
    •  & Molly M. Stevens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Collective cell migration in embryonic tissues is triggered by cell softening due to a microtubule deacetylation pathway involving the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1.

    • Cristian L. Marchant
    • , Abdul N. Malmi-Kakkada
    •  & Elias H. Barriga

  • Article |

    Mechanical confinement of fibroblasts into micrometre-sized channels deforms the cell nucleus, leading to temporary nuclear lamina destablization and disassembly, loss of lamina-associated domains in chromatin and a decrease in histone and DNA methylation. These mechanically induced alterations in chromatin boost the conversion of fibroblasts into neurons and pluripotent stem cells and thus can be explored for cell engineering applications.

    • Yang Song
    • , Jennifer Soto
    •  & Song Li

  • Article |

    Directed cell movement known as durotaxis, typically associated with cellular migration in response to a substrate gradient of increasing stiffness, is now shown to also occur in the opposite direction, following a gradient of decreasing stiffness.

    • Aleksi Isomursu
    • , Keun-Young Park
    •  & David J. Odde

  • News & Views |

    Fruit flies injected with magnetic nanoparticles and genetically modified to sensitize neural circuits to the rate of change in temperature have enabled subsecond behavioural responses to magnetic stimuli and multi-channel magnetic control.

    • Michael G. Christiansen
    •  & Simone Schuerle

  • Article |

    Here the authors describe a method for remote magnetothermal stimulation of neurons that achieves subsecond behavioural responses in Drosophila fruit flies by combining magnetic nanoparticles with TRPA1-A, a rate-sensitive thermoreceptor. Tuning the properties of magnetic nanoparticles to respond to different magnetic field strengths and frequencies enables multichannel thermal magnetogenetic stimulation.

    • Charles Sebesta
    • , Daniel Torres Hinojosa
    •  & Jacob T. Robinson

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