News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Researchers from Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have grown a twisted multilayer crystal structure for the first time and measured the structure's key properties. The researchers added a layer of gold between two sheets of a traditional semiconducting material, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). "With only a bottom MoS2 layer, the gold is happy to align with it, so no twist happens," said Yi Cui, one of the scientists involved in the study. "But with two twisted MoS2 sheets, the gold isn't sure to align with the top or bottom layer. We managed to help the gold solve its confusion and discovered a relationship between the orientation of Au and the twist angle of bilayer MoS2."

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a model that uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) through the blood-brain barrier, offering new hope for treating conditions like Alzheimer's disease and seizures. The blood-brain barrier is a selective, semi-permeable membrane between the blood and the brain that blocks the passage of certain substances, including therapeutic drugs. "Our model performed better at crossing the blood-brain barrier than others and helped us identify organ-specific particles that we later validated in future models," said Michael Mitchell, one of the scientists involved in the study.

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain, have figured out why the membranes that enclose our cells can push away nanoparticles that approach them. The researchers discovered that this repulsion – which notably affects neutral, uncharged nanoparticles – happens in part because smaller, charged molecules the electric field attracts crowd the membrane and push away the larger nanoparticles. Since many drug treatments are built around proteins and other nanoparticles that target the membrane, the repulsion could play a role in the treatments' effectiveness.

Tumors constantly shed DNA from dying cells, which briefly circulates in the patient's bloodstream before it is quickly broken down. But the amount of tumor DNA circulating at any given time is extremely small, so it has been challenging to develop tests sensitive enough to pick up that tiny signal. A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has now come up with a way to significantly boost that signal, by temporarily slowing the clearance of tumor DNA circulating in the bloodstream. The researchers developed a monoclonal antibody and a nanoparticle that can transiently interfere with the body's ability to remove circulating tumor DNA from the bloodstream.

Researchers from Northwestern University, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, and the Technical University of Denmark have developed a novel method to host gas molecules as they are being analyzed in real time, using honeycomb structures found in nature as inspiration for an ultra-thin ceramic membrane used to encase the sample. The encapsulation strategy works within high-vacuum transmission electron microscopes to enhance imaging of solid nanostructures. With the new technique, the resolutions were down to around 1.02 angstroms, compared to about 2.36 angstroms in previous experiments. The researchers said they've achieved the highest spatial resolution and spectral visibility recorded in their field to date.

Rice University scientists have uncovered a new way to make high-purity boron nitride nanotubes – hollow cylindrical structures that can withstand temperatures of up to 900°C (1,652°F) while also being stronger than steel by weight. The scientists figured out how to get rid of hard-to-remove impurities in boron nitride nanotubes using phosphoric acid and fine-tuning the reaction. "The challenge is that during the synthesis of the material, in addition to tubes, we end up with a lot of extra stuff," said Kevin Shumard, lead author on the study. "As scientists, we want to work with the purest material we can, so that we limit variables as we experiment."

Northwestern University researchers have developed the first selective therapy to prevent allergic reactions, which can range in severity from itchy hives and watery eyes to trouble breathing, and even death. To develop the new therapy, researchers decorated nanoparticles with antibodies capable of shutting down specific immune cells responsible for allergic responses. The nanoparticle also carries an allergen that corresponds to the patient's specific allergy. If a person is allergic to peanuts, for example, then the nanoparticle carries a peanut protein.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses. Their strategy uses tandem electrochemical and thermochemical reactions that are run at relatively low temperatures and ambient pressure and could successfully lock carbon away to offset carbon emissions.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a neural implant that provides information about activity deep inside the brain while sitting on its surface. The implant is made up of a thin, transparent, and flexible polymer strip that is packed with a dense array of graphene electrodes. The technology, tested in transgenic mice, brings the researchers a step closer to building a minimally invasive brain-computer interface that provides high-resolution data about deep neural activity by using recordings from the brain’s surface.

Using a new technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, diagnosing lung cancer could become as easy as inhaling nanoparticle sensors and then taking a urine test that reveals whether a tumor is present. The technology is based on nanosensors, which can be delivered by an inhaler or a nebulizer. If the nanosensors encounter cancer-linked proteins in the lungs, they produce a signal that accumulates in the urine, where it can be detected with a simple paper test strip.