Biotechnology articles within Nature Materials

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  • News & Views |

    An immune cell population enriched in inflamed gut tissue is shown to play a role in driving CD44+ intestinal organoid proliferation, while also regulating extracellular matrix deposition and remodelling in a synthetic hydrogel platform.

    • Bauer L. LeSavage
    •  & Sarah C. Heilshorn

  • News & Views |

    Automated extrusion-based bioprinting has been shown to enable human kidney organoid generation with improved throughput, quality control and scale, representing an important step towards macro-scale kidney tissue engineering.

    • Benjamin D. Humphreys

  • Letter |

    A 3D bioprinting approach has been developed to facilitate tissue morphogenesis by directly depositing organoid-forming stem cells in an extracellular matrix, with the ability to generate intestinal epithelia and branched vascular tissue constructs.

    • Jonathan A. Brassard
    • , Mike Nikolaev
    •  & Matthias P. Lutolf

  • Article |

    Efficient nanoparticle delivery into tumours has been a challenge in the field. It is now shown that the efficiency can be improved substantially when the dose breaches a specific threshold.

    • Ben Ouyang
    • , Wilson Poon
    •  & Warren C. W. Chan

  • Comment |

    Consensus among experts is that only an effective COVID-19 vaccine will end the pandemic. This Comment focuses on how this pandemic has accelerated the development of vaccine platforms distinct from classical vaccines; these novel platforms may also increase the response time when new viruses emerge in the future.

    • Debby van Riel
    •  & Emmie de Wit

  • News & Views |

    Nanoformulations of cabotegravir prodrugs have been developed to prolong the pharmacokinetics of the antiretroviral agent. They can be present in the plasma of mice and non-human primates for a year following a single injection.

    • Vicente Soriano
    • , Pablo Barreiro
    •  & Carmen de Mendoza

  • News & Views |

    New evidence now suggests that the dominant mechanism of extravasation of nanoparticles into solid tumours may be through an active process of endothelial transcytosis.

    • Irene de Lázaro
    •  & David J. Mooney

  • Article |

    Biocompatible and degradable silk materials with programmable mechanical properties can be directly obtained from regenerated amorphous silk using thermal moulding.

    • Chengchen Guo
    • , Chunmei Li
    •  & David L. Kaplan

  • Article |

    A range of cancer cell types are shown to lack rigidity-sensing due to alteration in specific cytoskeletal sensor proteins and this sensing ability can be reversed from a transformed to a rigidity-dependent growth state by the sensor proteins, resulting in restoration of contractility and adhesion.

    • Bo Yang
    • , Haguy Wolfenson
    •  & Michael P. Sheetz

  • News & Views |

    Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells have been engineered using gold nanoformulations conjugated with CRISPR capable of targeting two distinct genomic loci of therapeutic interest, with potential engraftment in humanized mouse models.

    • Aravind Asokan

  • News & Views |

    Crystallized anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to inhibit fibrosis on the surface of a number of devices over a long-term period following implantation in rodents and non-human primates.

    • Ruud A. Bank

  • News & Views |

    Over-expression of a transcriptional factor, Alx3, has been shown to revitalize the regenerative capacity of adult progenitor cells to promote enhanced stromal vascularization and formation of parenchymal dental pulp tissue in vivo.

    • Sarah E. Millar

  • News & Views |

    A vaccine platform developed from a synthetic polymeric glyco-adjuvant and reversibly conjugated to an antigen was shown to target dendritic cells leading to cellular and humoral immune response against malaria.

    • Yvette van Kooyk

  • Article |

    Tuning ionic permeation across nanoscale pores is important for areas ranging from nanofluidic computing to drug delivery. Complex formation between crown ethers and dissolved metal ions is used to demonstrate graphene-based ion channels with high mechanosensitivity.

    • A. Fang
    • , K. Kroenlein
    •  & A. Smolyanitsky

  • News & Views |

    An elastomer sheet with programmed inner channel architecture swiftly shapes into a desired three-dimensional geometry upon the application of pressure.

    • Efi Efrati

  • News & Views |

    An amphipathic peptide has been engineered and is capable of penetrating the blood–brain barrier as well as possessing a potent antiviral activity against Zika and other mosquito-borne viruses.

    • Jing Zou
    •  & Pei-Yong Shi

  • News & Views |

    A micropatterned human pluripotent stem cell-based developmental model was utilized to demonstrate the role of biophysical cues such as cell size and cytoskeletal contractile forces in directing patterning of neuroepithelial and neural plate border cells.

    • Mukul Tewary
    •  & Peter W. Zandstra

  • Article |

    The gastrointestinal tract is a therapeutic target for type-2 diabetes. An orally deliverable sucralfate-based material is shown to form a physical coating in the gut, capable of limiting glucose uptake and also administering drugs to the gut lining.

    • Yuhan Lee
    • , Tara E. Deelman
    •  & Jeffrey M. Karp

  • Feature |

    Camille M. Le Gall, Jorieke Weiden, Loek J. Eggermont and Carl G. Figdor provide an overview of immunotherapeutics for cancer treatment that harness dendritic cells, their challenges in clinical use, and approaches employed to enhance their recruitment and activation to promote effective anti-tumour immunity.

    • Camille M. Le Gall
    • , Jorieke Weiden
    •  & Carl G. Figdor

  • Editorial |

    As the interaction of the immune system with the tumour microenvironment becomes increasingly understood, more evidence indicates how immunotherapy can be employed to better eliminate cancers.

  • News & Views |

    Microbial gas vesicles have been developed for use as MRI contrast agents whose contrast can be inactivated by applying ultrasound waves to collapse the vesicles.

    • Jeff W. M. Bulte

  • Letter |

    A strategy to enhance antigen immunogenicity is shown using polyethyleneimine adsorbed on mesoporous silica microrod vaccine as a platform for neoantigens, supporting potent humoral immune response and inhibition of tumour growth following vaccination.

    • Aileen Weiwei Li
    • , Miguel C. Sobral
    •  & David J. Mooney

  • Article |

    Proceeding from quantum mechanical predictions, a high shear piezoelectric constant of 178 pm V−1 was measured for the amino acid crystal beta glycine. This originates from the efficient packing of the molecules of the amino acid.

    • Sarah Guerin
    • , Aimee Stapleton
    •  & Damien Thompson

  • Editorial |

    As the role of biophysical cues in regulating cell behaviour is increasingly understood, more evidence in the field of bioengineering indicates how such signals can affect cells and tissues.

  • News & Views |

    Blocking the growth of new blood vessels has been shown to alter fibrosis in livers in a disease stage-specific manner. In vitro models of fibrosis were developed to understand this process, highlighting the role of environmental mechanics.

    • Geoffrey C. Gurtner
    •  & Jagannath Padmanabhan

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