Volume 5 Issue 1, January 2021

A minimally invasive microneedle patch detects specific protein biomarkers in dermal interstitial fluid at high sensitivity via a needle-integrated immunoassay coupled with an ultrabright fluorescent label.

The capacity of mesenchymal stromal cells to promote vascular regeneration in vivo can be enhanced by the combination of specific small-molecule inhibitors and the right waveform of mechanical stretch.

The DNA methylation of the promoter region of the oncogenic Yes-associated protein is reversibly regulated by the stiffness of the extracellular matrix.

This Review discusses methods for the creation of microphysiological human brain models that recapitulate aspects of major neurological disorders.

A microfluidic assay that quantifies cell migration and proliferation can prospectively categorize patients with glioblastoma according to progression-free survival.

The expression of therapeutic protein targets in circulating tumour cells isolated from blood samples of patients with cancer can be tracked at the single-cell level by antibody-mediated magnetic labelling and microfluidic sorting.

A bead-based fluorescence sandwich immunoassay implemented in a custom microfluidic chip can continuously measure glucose and insulin with picomolar sensitivity and sub-second resolution.

A microneedle patch that samples and quantifies target protein biomarkers in interstitial fluid allows for longitudinal monitoring of the levels of a range of disease-relevant biomarkers, as shown in live mice.

T cells can be classified according to their activation state and subtype on the basis of their autofluorescence lifetime patterns.

Human mesenchymal stem cells can be mechanically and pharmacologically conditioned to enhance vascular regeneration in vivo, as shown in mice with hindlimb ischaemia.

Chiral photons can accelerate the differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons in vitro and in vivo when DNA-bridged chiral assemblies of gold nanoparticles are tightly entangled with the cells’ cytoskeletal fibres.

The stiffness of the extracellular matrix of gastric tumours reversibly regulates DNA methylation of the promoter region of the oncogenic Yes-associated protein.