Volume 19 Issue 6, June 2024

Robotics and machine learning are combined to predict and prepare a variety of nanocomposite materials with properties mimicking those of various types of plastics, starting from natural building blocks.

A genetically engineered variant of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) protein is delivered to cancer cells, showing potential for clinical impact.

By confining and concentrating light in a nanometric volume at the apex of a metallic tip, sub-molecule-scale control of a basic photochemical reaction — phototautomerization — is now shown to be possible. Applicable to other photo-induced reactions, this technique signals a new strategy for the synthesis of complex molecules on surfaces.

A process that leverages capillary interactions between oligomers in an elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane substrate and deposited Ga enables the formation of Ga nanodroplets with nanoscale gaps in a single step. Gap-plasmon resonances excited within the nanogaps give rise to structural colours that can be tuned by changing the oligomer content in the substrate or by mechanical stretching.

This Review discusses advances in engineering high-quality-factor strained nanomechanical resonators with applications in precision measurements.

Weak laser light confined at the apex of a scanning tunnelling microscope tip can drive the tautomerization of a free-base phthalocyanine with atomic-scale precision. The combination of tip-enhanced photoluminescence spectroscopy and hyperspectral mapping paired with theoretical modelling then unravel an excited-state mediated reaction.

Synchronized dynamics of quantum dot ensembles are essential for the generation of giant optical responses. To this end, coherent electronic coupling in quantum dot solids induces cooperative enhancement of nonlinear optoelectronic responses.

Operando transmission electron microscopy imaging reveals that modifying interlayer rotations alters both the spatial arrangement and switching dynamics of polar domains in artificially stacked trilayers of WSe₂.

Tellurite molybdenum quaternary oxides, a family of van der Waals materials, show slow group velocity and long lifetimes with promising implications for tunable low-loss anisotropic polaritonics.

Exploiting capillary interactions of oligomers in polydimethylsiloxane and Ga allows single-step formation of closely spaced Ga nanodroplets in which gap plasmon resonances lead to mechanoresponsive structural colours, bypassing multiple chemical or lithographic steps.

Nanoparticles containing immiscible elements can be synthesized under certain experimental conditions.

An integrated workflow that uses robotics and machine learning to discover all-natural plastic substitutes with programmable properties is presented.

A transition metal/carbon nanocomposite material has been designed for positive electrodes in Li||S batteries. It enables Li||S batteries to be fast charged–discharged in <5 min, which represents a breakthrough in the development of high-power Li||S batteries.

Integrating droplet-based microfluidics with a modular DNA circuit, here the authors report on monitoring the amplification reaction from single enzyme molecules in real time, revealing the distribution of activity among the catalyst population and alternative inactivation pathways under various stresses.

Here the authors present a non-FRET DNA-templated silver nanocluster probe that exhibits a distinct colour switch from green to red upon nuclease digestion, visible under UV excitation, offering a low-cost, effective alternative to fluorescent reporters for detecting nuclease activities.

Manufacturing complexities, low yield and stability issues have hampered the clinical translation and scaling-up of immunoliposomes to meet the needs of pharmaceutical-grade products. The authors propose a one-step method of incorporating chimeric nanobodies tagged to hydrophobic linkers into liposomes, allowing targeted delivery of small-molecule anti-cancer drugs to tumours.

Here, the authors combined and synchronized single-cell nanoindentation, electrophysiology and functional fluorescence imaging to evaluate the responses of neuronal networks to mechanical stimuli with piconewton force sensitivity and nanometre precision, enabling the exploration of nanomechanobiology and manipulation of neuronal systems.

Tuberculosis is a major global health issue. Here the authors report Mycobacterium-pre-activated macrophage membrane-coated photothermal nanoparticles for targeted tuberculous granuloma and pathogen dual imaging and antibacterial photothermal therapy.

In regenerative medicine, stem-cell-derived extracellular vesicles are emerging as cell-free nanotherapeutics. Here, the authors show that coating these nanovesicles with blood proteins such as albumin improves their uptake by liver cells, offering a better treatment strategy for liver diseases.

There is interest in STING for immunotherapy, but it suffers from adverse proinflammatory effects. Here, the authors report on a non-membrane-associated polymeric universal STING mimic which triggers pathways involved in tumour control over proinflammatory pathways, demonstrating application in vivo.

This analysis leverages a large-scale literature review, text mining, statistics and machine learning to identify trends, shortcomings and future opportunities in developing and deploying inorganic nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and therapy.