Biomaterials articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic materials tend to excel in either stiffness or extensibility, whereas a combination of the two is necessary to exceed the performance of natural biomaterials. Here the authors present a bioinspired polymer consisting of cyclic β-peptide rings that is capable of transitioning between rigid and unfolded conformations on demand.

    • Kenan P. Fears
    • , Manoj K. Kolel-Veetil
    •  & Thomas D. Clark

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tuning the mechanical properties of extracellular matrix is of great interest in tissue engineering but spatial control over stiffness in hydrogels has been demonstrated in two dimensions only. Here the authors developed a layer-by-layer printing technique which uses oxygen inhibition to control the heterogeneous stiffness in 3D printed structures.

    • Hang Yin
    • , Yonghui Ding
    •  & Xiaobo Yin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nature of the linker is known to affect the efficacy of antibody–drug conjugate (ADC). Here the authors show cetuximab-guided Avidin-Nucleic-Acid-Nanoassemblies to be superior to cetuximab-doxorubicin conjugate, and show its efficacy in KRAS mutant breast cancer, allowing for therapeutic expansion of anti-EGFR therapy.

    • Francesco Roncato
    • , Fatlum Rruga
    •  & Margherita Morpurgo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D hydrogels have provided information on the physical requirements of stem cell fate, but the contribution of interactions with the pericellular environment are under-explored. Here the authors show that pericellular matrix secreted by human bone marrow stromal cells (hMSC) embedded in a HA-based hydrogel contribute to hMSC fate.

    • Silvia A. Ferreira
    • , Meghna S. Motwani
    •  & Eileen Gentleman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect that microscale surface curvature has on cell migration has not been evaluated. Here the authors fabricate sinusoidal 3D surfaces and show that the cell nucleus and cytoskeleton cooperate to guide cells to concave valleys in a process they coin curvotaxis.

    • Laurent Pieuchot
    • , Julie Marteau
    •  & Karine Anselme

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the enormous potential of magnetically-guided soft robots for various applications, challenges related to inefficient locomotion in harsh environments hinder its development. Here, the authors demonstrate a multi-legged millirobot with excellent locomotion capability in harsh environments.

    • Haojian Lu
    • , Mei Zhang
    •  & Yajing Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials which change shape in response to a trigger are of interest for soft robotics and targeted therapeutic delivery. Here, the authors report on the development of DNA-crosslinked hydrogels which can expand upon the detection of different biomolecular inputs mediated by DNA strand-displacement.

    • Joshua Fern
    •  & Rebecca Schulman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spatially controlled expansion and contraction of soft tissues to achieve complex three dimensional morphologies remains challenging in man-made materials. Here the authors demonstrate encoding of 2D hydrogels with spatially and temporally controlled growth to create dynamic 3D structures.

    • Amirali Nojoomi
    • , Hakan Arslan
    •  & Kyungsuk Yum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-compartmentalised soft micro-systems are used as models of synthetic protocells. Here, the authors developed nested host–guest protocell constructs capable of self-reconfiguration in response to changes in pH generated by antagonistic modes of enzyme-mediated coupling.

    • Nicolas Martin
    • , Jean-Paul Douliez
    •  & Stephen Mann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Trapping air at the solid-liquid interface is a promising strategy for reducing frictional drag but could not be realized without perfluorinated coatings so-far. Here the authors demonstrate a biomimetic coating-free approach for entrapping air for long periods upon immersion in liquids.

    • Eddy M. Domingues
    • , Sankara Arunachalam
    •  & Himanshu Mishra

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-performance stretchable conductive fibers are desired for the development of stretchable electronic devices but preparation of conductive hydrogel fibers is challenging. Inspired by spider silk the authors demonstrate here a spinning method to prepare stretchable conductive hydrogel fibers with ordered polymer chain alignment.

    • Xue Zhao
    • , Fang Chen
    •  & Mingming Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is interest in the development of mussel inspired materials; however, this requires an understanding of the materials. Here, the authors report on an investigation into the properties of mussel cuticle from different species that challenges conventional wisdom about particle filled composites.

    • Christophe A. Monnier
    • , Daniel G. DeMartini
    •  & J. Herbert Waite

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Complex assembly pathways often involve transient, partly-formed intermediates that are challenging to characterize. Here, the authors present a simple and rapid spectroscopic thermal hysteresis method for mapping the energy landscapes of supramolecular assembly.

    • Robert W. Harkness V
    • , Nicole Avakyan
    •  & Anthony K. Mittermaier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface enhanced Raman scattering is a bio-analytical tool and the development and optimisation of probes is an active area of investigation. Here, the authors report on the development and testing of biocompatible semiconductor zinc oxide quantum probes on a platform for cell adhesion and analysis.

    • Rupa Haldavnekar
    • , Krishnan Venkatakrishnan
    •  & Bo Tan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designer organelles with new biochemical functionalities are of great interest in synthetic biology and cellular engineering. Here the authors present a single-protein-based platform for generating synthetic membraneless compartments that is capable of enzymatically-triggered alterations to phase behavior and of recruiting and concentrating cargo proteins.

    • Benjamin S. Schuster
    • , Ellen H. Reed
    •  & Daniel A. Hammer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemotherapy agents are prone to producing severe side-effects, and their sequestration prior to their entering of the circulatory system is thus highly desirable. Here, the authors functionalize iron oxide nanoparticles with genomic DNA and achieve sequestration of doxorubicin, cisplatin, and epirubicin from biological solutions.

    • Carl M. Blumenfeld
    • , Michael D. Schulz
    •  & Robert H. Grubbs

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To improve trauma survival and surgical outcomes, hemostatic agents are needed. Here, the authors report on the development of injectable, biocompatible carbon nanotube reinforced quaternized chitosan cryogels with shape memory, conductivity and antibacterial properties for hemostatic control.

    • Xin Zhao
    • , Baolin Guo
    •  & Peter X. Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) pathway is a key regulator of cancer metastasis. Here, the authors present a method to block CXCR4 and thereby inhibit breast cancer metastasis by developing a liposome that presents CXCR4-binding peptides in a multivalent fashion.

    • Daxing Liu
    • , Peng Guo
    •  & Debra Auguste

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is much debate within the field about the complex processes involved in the formation of precursors and mineral crystals. Here, the authors report on a study into the structures formed in the polymer-induced liquid precursor of CaCO3 and suggest a new interpretation of the process.

    • Yifei Xu
    • , Koen C. H. Tijssen
    •  & Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Active matter composed of filaments and molecular motors can contract. Here, the authors report the spontaneous out-of-plane buckling of reconstituted contracting poroelastic actomyosin sheets in the absence of external cues.

    • Y. Ideses
    • , V. Erukhimovitch
    •  & A. Bernheim-Groswasser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon-nanohorns have a unique morphology and structure yet little is known about the biocompatibility. Here, the authors investigate the biocompatibility and bio-interaction of carbon nanohorns, compare them to carbon nanotubes and show the superior biocompatibility and safety of the nanohorns.

    • Bing He
    • , Yujie Shi
    •  & Qiang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Peptoids are promising crystallization agents, as they offer the molecular recognition capabilities of proteins and peptides but with higher stability and synthetic tunability. Here, the authors show that sequence-defined peptoids can controllably template the formation and shape evolution of gold nanostructures with defined morphologies.

    • Feng Yan
    • , Lili Liu
    •  & Chun-Long Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Development of biocatalysts that mimic compartmentalized reactions in cells has been cumbersome due to the lack of low-cost materials and associated technologies. Here the authors show that cationic lignin nanospheres function as activating anchors for hydrolases, and enable aqueous ester synthesis by forming spatially confined biocatalysts.

    • Mika Henrikki Sipponen
    • , Muhammad Farooq
    •  & Monika Österberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diffusion of molecules in crowded environment is important for various living systems, but the dynamics of charged molecules in charged matrices remains still unexplored. Here the authors report a dynamics of DNA and polyelectrolytes in a charged hydrogel where the guest molecules do not diffuse but experience topologically frustrated dynamics.

    • Di Jia
    •  & Murugappan Muthukumar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cells are often passively encapsulated in hydrogels for a wide range of applications. Here, the authors report on a method of incorporating the cells into the hydrogel using bioorthogonal click reactions to link azide-modified cells with biocompatible polymers to create cell-based materials.

    • Koji Nagahama
    • , Yuuka Kimura
    •  & Ayaka Takemoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unlike synthetic hydrogels, biological gels are made of fibrous networks which give rise to unique properties, such as high porosity and mechanical responsiveness. Here the authors use polyisocyanide-based gels and selectively crosslink inside the bundles to lock the fibrous network and thus control the architecture and the mechanics.

    • Daniël C. Schoenmakers
    • , Alan E. Rowan
    •  & Paul H. J. Kouwer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    β-sheet structure underlies the mechanical properties of spider silk but the mechanism to form β-sheet from soluble silk protein during transition into insoluble fibers has not been elucidated. Here the authors unravel the mechanism of β-sheet formation using NMR and circular dichroism spectroscopy.

    • Nur Alia Oktaviani
    • , Akimasa Matsugami
    •  & Keiji Numata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artificial compartments have been expressed in prokaryotes and yeast, but similar capabilities have been missing for mammalian cell engineering. Here the authors use bacterial encapsulins to engineer genetically controlled multifunctional orthogonal compartments in mammalian cells.

    • Felix Sigmund
    • , Christoph Massner
    •  & Gil G. Westmeyer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA and RNA G-quadruplexes can stack to form higher-order structures called G-wires. Here the authors report high-resolution AFM images of higher-order DNA G-quadruplexes in aqueous solution that could impact the design of G-wire based nanodevices and the understanding of G-wires in biology.

    • Krishnashish Bose
    • , Christopher J. Lech
    •  & Anh Tuân Phan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Retention of drugs loaded into liposomes is a major challenge to effective targeted drug delivery. Here, the authors report on the modification of drugs with a glycosidic pH sensitive switch to improve encapsulation and retention of drugs and demonstrate application in an in vivo cancer model.

    • Pierre-Alain Burnouf
    • , Yu-Lin Leu
    •  & Steve R. Roffler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nested structures are common throughout nature and art, yet remain challenging synthetic targets in supramolecular chemistry. Here, the authors design multitopic terpyridine ligands that coordinate into nested concentric hexagons, and show that these discrete supramolecules display potent antimicrobial activity.

    • Heng Wang
    • , Xiaomin Qian
    •  & Xiaopeng Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Targeting tumors with bacteria as vehicles for metabolite therapy suffers from low efficiency and robustness. Here, the authors combine carbon nitride with nitric oxide generation enzyme-positive E. coli for photo-controlled metabolite therapy (PMT) and observe increased effects both in vitro and in tumor-bearing mice.

    • Di-Wei Zheng
    • , Ying Chen
    •  & Xian-Zheng Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The production of graphene nanoflakes for biological studies is usually done in a controlled chemical environment. Here, the authors develop a method to produce graphene nanoflakes in biofluids and find that their protein coats are different from that of other materials.

    • V. Castagnola
    • , W. Zhao
    •  & K. A. Dawson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The conjugation of nanoparticles and proteins can require complex optimization for the addition of different proteins. Here, the authors report on the development of a simple isopeptide bond forming method of conjoining gold nanoparticles and fusion proteins.

    • Wenwei Ma
    • , Angela Saccardo
    •  & Enrico Ferrari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteins can serve as means of medical treatment, but their efficient delivery to cells is difficult. Here, the authors present a type of polymers, fluoroamphiphiles, acting as chemical chaperones that can facilitate the import of proteins into the inner compartment, i.e. cytosol, of cells.

    • Zhenjing Zhang
    • , Wanwan Shen
    •  & Yiyun Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The treatment of inflammatory arthritis by local delivery of therapeutics is limited by short half-lives of drugs. Here the authors demonstrate a hydrogel platform that titrates drug release to arthritis activity.

    • Nitin Joshi
    • , Jing Yan
    •  & Jeffrey M. Karp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integrating cell-laden hydrogels effectively into the 3D printing process is a challenge in the creation of tissue engineering scaffolds. Here, the authors describe an additive manufacturing technique to combine polymer and cell-containing networks with 3D-printed mechanical supports.

    • Héloïse Ragelle
    • , Mark W. Tibbitt
    •  & Robert Langer

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