Biomaterials articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

  • Article |

    Helices are found at every level of natural systems, where their dynamic potential is exploited to achieve a variety of functions. Here, liquid-crystalline molecular switches embedded in a polymer are used to prepare biomimetic spring-like materials that can convert molecular motion into macroscopic work.

    • Supitchaya Iamsaard
    • , Sarah J. Aßhoff
    •  & Nathalie Katsonis

  • Article |

    Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is crucial for a range of diverse cellular processes, from wound healing to bone regeneration, yet is inherently unstable. This important biologic has now been covalently linked to a polymer that mimics the polysaccharide heparin to produce a conjugate that shows remarkable stability to a wide range of therapeutically and environmentally relevant stressors.

    • Thi H. Nguyen
    • , Sung-Hye Kim
    •  & Heather D. Maynard

  • News & Views |

    The combination of addressable synthetic macromolecules with proteins of precise structure and function often leads to materials with unique properties, as is now shown by the efficient multi-site initiation of polymer growth inside the cavity of a virus capsid.

    • Jeroen J. L. M. Cornelissen

  • Article |

    The site-selective initiation and propagation of an atom-transfer radical polymerization reaction forms an addressable crosslinked polymer constrained within the interior cavity of a virus-like particle derived from the bacteriophage P22. This protein–polymer hybrid is useful as a new vehicle for high-density delivery of small-molecule cargos.

    • Janice Lucon
    • , Shefah Qazi
    •  & Trevor Douglas

  • Research Highlights |

    Polymeric particles based on silyl ether crosslinkers create acid-sensitive biomaterials whose degradation is controlled in vivo by natural pH gradients.

    • Anne Pichon

  • Research Highlights |

    A nanocomposite of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles combines the flexibility of the former with the magnetic properties of the latter.

    • Neil Withers

  • Article |

    Catalytically oxidizing water to produce oxygen is so challenging that even the enzyme that performs the task in nature must be regenerated every 30 mins. Now, stable oxygen-evolving anodes have been made by tethering a polyoxometalate catalyst to a conducting bed of carbon nanotubes.

    • Francesca M. Toma
    • , Andrea Sartorel
    •  & Marcella Bonchio

  • Article |

    Nanotubular structures made from different materials are being investigated for applications ranging from sensing to drug delivery, but controlling how they interact with ‘cargo’ molecules has proved challenging. Now, the selective uptake, precise positioning and triggered release of gold nanoparticles has been achieved with nanotubes assembled from triangular DNA building blocks.

    • Pik Kwan Lo
    • , Pierre Karam
    •  & Hanadi F. Sleiman

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