Bionanotechnology and the Future of Glioma

Designer nanoscaled materials have the potential to revolutionize diagnosis and treatment for glioma. This review summarizes current progress in nanoparticle‑based therapies for glioma treatment including targeting, drug delivery, gene delivery, and direct tumor ablation. Preclinical and current human clinical trials are discussed. Although progress in the field has been significant over the past decade, many successful strategies demonstrated in the laboratory have yet to be implemented in human clinical trials. Looking forward, we provide examples of combined treatment strategies, which harness the potential for nanoparticles to interact with their biochemical environment, and simultaneously with externally applied photons or magnetic fields. We present our notion of the “ideal” nanoparticle for glioma, a concept that may soon be realized

Self-assembly, Self-organization, Nanotechnology and vitalism

International audienceOver the past decades, self-assembly has attracted a lot of research attention and transformed the relations between chemistry, materials science and biology. The paper explores the impact of the current interest in self-assembly techniques on the traditional debate over the nature of life. The first section describes three different research programs of self-assembly in nanotechnology in order to characterize their metaphysical implications: -1- Hybridization ( using the building blocks of living systems for making devices and machines) ; -2- Biomimetics (making artifacts mimicking nature); -3- Integration (a composite of the two previous strategies). The second section focused on the elusive boundary between selfassembly and self-organization tries to map out the various positions adopted by the promoters of self-assembly on the issue of vitalism

Nanoscale Architectures for Smart Bio-Interfaces: Advances and Challenges

Volcanology & seismolog

Carbon-nanotube reinforcement of DNA-silica nanocomposites yields programmable and cell-instructive biocoatings

Biomedical applications require substrata that allow for the grafting, colonization and control of eukaryotic cells. Currently available materials are often limited by insufficient possibilities for the integration of biological functions and means for tuning the mechanical properties. We report on tailorable nanocomposite materials in which silica nanoparticles are interwoven with carbon nanotubes by DNA polymerization. The modular, well controllable and scalable synthesis yields materials whose composition can be gradually adjusted to produce synergistic, non-linear mechanical stiffness and viscosity properties. The materials were exploited as substrata that outperform conventional culture surfaces in the ability to control cellular adhesion, proliferation and transmigration through the hydrogel matrix. The composite materials also enable the construction of layered cell architectures, the expansion of embryonic stem cells by simplified cultivation methods and the on-demand release of uniformly sized stem cell spheroids

Building droplet-based microfluidic systems for biological analysis

Abstract In the present paper, we review and discuss current developments and challenges in the field of dropletbased microfluidics. This discussion includes an assessment of the basic fluid dynamics of segmented flows, material requirements, fundamental unit operations and how integration of functional components can be applied to specific biological problems

Roadmap on Biological Pathways for Electronic Nanofabrication and Materials

Conventional microchip fabrication is energy and resource intensive. Thus, the discovery of new manufacturing approaches that reduce these expenditures would be highly beneficial to the semiconductor industry. In comparison, living systems construct complex nanometer-scale structures with high yields and low energy utilization. Combining the capabilities of living systems with synthetic DNA-/protein-based self-assembly may offer intriguing potential for revolutionizing the synthesis of complex sub-10 nm information processing architectures. The successful discovery of new biologically based paradigms would not only help extend the current semiconductor technology roadmap, but also offer additional potential growth areas in biology, medicine, agriculture and sustainability for the semiconductor industry. This article summarizes discussions surrounding key emerging technologies explored at the Workshop on Biological Pathways for Electronic Nanofabrication and Materials that was held on 16–17 November 2016 at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA

Hydrogel microparticles from lithographic processes: Novel materials for fundamental and applied colloid science

In recent years, there has been a surge in methods to synthesize geometrically and chemically complex microparticles. Analogous to atoms, the concept of a “periodic table” of particles has emerged and continues to be expanded upon. Complementing the natural intellectual curiosity that drives the creation of increasingly intricate particles is the pull from applications that take advantage of such high-value materials. Complex particles are now being used in fields ranging from diagnostics and catalysis, to self-assembly and rheology, where material composition and microstructure are closely linked with particle function. This is especially true of polymer hydrogels, which offer an attractive and broad class of base materials for synthesis. Lithography affords the ability to engineer particle properties a priori and leads to the production of homogenous ensembles of particles. This review summarizes recent advances in synthesizing hydrogel microparticles using lithographic processes and highlights a number of emerging applications. We discuss advantages and limitations of current strategies, and conclude with an outlook on future trends in the field.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1006147)Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous ManufacturingNational Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (Grant R21EB008814

Advances in Peptide-Based Hydrogel for Tissue Engineering

The development of peptide-based materials has emerged as one of the most challenging aspects of biomaterials in recent years. It has been widely acknowledged that peptide-based materials can be used in a broad range of biomedical applications, particularly in tissue engineering. Among them, hydrogels have been attracting considerable interest in tissue engineering because they mimic tissue formation conditions by providing a three-dimensional environment and a high water content. It has been found that peptide-based hydrogels have received more attention due to mimicking proteins, particularly extracellular matrix proteins, as well as the wide variety of applications they are capable of serving. It is without a doubt that peptide-based hydrogels have become the leading biomaterials of today owing to their tunable mechanical stability, high water content, and high biocompatibility. Here, we discuss in detail various types of peptide-based materials, emphasizing peptide-based hydrogels, and then we examine in detail how hydrogels are formed, paying particular attention to the peptide structures that are incorporated into the final structure. Following that, we discuss the self-assembly and formation of hydrogels under various conditions, as well as the parameters to be considered as critical factors, which include pH, amino acid composi- tion within the sequence, and cross-linking techniques. Further, recent studies on the development of peptide-based hydrogels and their applications in tissue engineering are reviewed