Explore more about: Biomaterial Interfaces

Dendritic cells are key orchestrators of the immune response, but most vaccination strategies don’t effectively target them. NIBIB-funded researchers have developed biodegradable nanoparticles that are designed to deliver mRNA cargo to dendritic cells in the spleen. Combined with another type of immunotherapy, their vaccine had robust antitumor effects in multiple mouse models.

Nanozymes—artificial enzymes that can carry out pre-determined chemical reactions—could selectively activate a cancer drug within a tumor while minimizing damage to healthy tissue in a mouse model of triple negative breast cancer.

Tissue engineering research has uncovered that a skin cell type could be a new therapeutic target to accelerate the healing of burns and possibly other wounds.

NIBIB-funded researchers at Northwestern Universtiy have created the first highly mature neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells, a feat that opens new opportunities for medical research and potential transplantation therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injuries. Source: Science Daily.

Osteoarthritis – a painful condition that results from the deterioration of the cartilage in our joints – affects millions of people worldwide. To combat this issue, NIBIB-funded researchers are developing an implantable, biodegradable film that helps to regenerate the native cartilage at the site of damage. Their study, performed in rabbits, could be an initial, important step in the establishment of a new treatment.

A new study shows how the brown anole lizard solves one of nature's most complex problems -- breathing -- with ultimate simplicity. Whereas human lungs develop over months and years into baroque tree-like structures, the anole lung develops in just a few days into crude lobes covered with bulbous protuberances. These gourd-like structures, while far less refined, allow the lizard to exchange oxygen for waste gases just as human lungs do. And because they grow quickly by leveraging simple mechanical processes, anole lungs provide new inspiration for engineers designing advanced biotechnologies.

The gut microbiome can impact us in a variety of different ways, from our metabolism to our mood. Now, NIBIB-funded researchers are investigating if a fiber-based gel can restore beneficial microbes in the gut to enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy treatment.

Researchers are pushing organ-on-a-chip devices to new levels that could change the way clinicians approach cancer treatment, particularly ovarian cancer.

Nanofiber-based treatments stimulate the body to mount its own biological attack on immune disorders.

In a new study, researchers have designed a miniaturized 3D-printed device to inactivate Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common bacterium that causes the infection.