Programmable short peptides for modulating stem cell fate in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Recent advancements in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have introduced promising strategies to address tissue and organ deficiencies. This review highlights the critical role of short peptides, particularly their ability to self-assemble into matrices that mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM). These low molecular weight peptides exhibit target-specific activities, modulate gene expression, and influence cell differentiation pathways.

Mechanically robust, mouldable, dynamically crosslinked hydrogel flap with multiple functionalities for accelerated deep skin wound healing.

Deep cutaneous wounds, which are difficult to heal and specifically occur on dynamic body surfaces, remain a substantial healthcare challenge in clinical practice because of multiple underlying factors, including excessive reactive oxygen species, potential bacterial infection, and extensive degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) which further leads to the progressive deterioration of the wound microenvironment. Any available individual wound therapy, such as antibiotic-loaded cotton gauze, cannot address all these issues. Engineering an advanced multifunctional wound dressing is the current need to promote the overall healing process of such wounds.

Transcriptional engineering for value enhancement of oilseed crops: a forward perspective.

Plant-derived oils provide 20%-35% of dietary calories and are a primary source of essential omega-6 (linoleic) and omega-3 (α-linolenic) fatty acids. While traditional breeding has significantly increased yields in key oilseed crops like soybean, sunflower, canola, peanut, and cottonseed, overall gains have plateaued over the past few decades. Oilseed crops also experience substantial yield losses in both prime and marginal agricultural areas due to biotic and abiotic stresses and shifting agro-climates.

Triphenylamine-Naphthalimide-Based "On-Off-On" AIEgen for Imaging Golgi Apparatus and Endoplasmic Reticulum.

Golgi apparatus (GA) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are two of the interesting subcellular organelles that are critical for protein synthesis, folding, processing, post-translational modifications, and secretion. Consequently, dysregulation in GA and ER and cross-talk between them are implicated in numerous diseases including cancer. As a result, simultaneous visualization of the GA and ER in cancer cells is extremely crucial for developing cancer therapeutics.

Epistemological dimensions of Indigenous honey collection in the Kattunaicken community of South India.

Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) has proven effective in environmental governance, forest management, and sustainable development, yet it is threatened by globalization and rapid social-ecological changes. In southern India, I investigated the engagement of the Kattunaicken community with the forest, particularly through honey collection, to explore the connection between their Indigenous epistemological identity and their role in caring for the forest and its inhabitants. I conducted 48 interviews and accompanied 11 forest walks as part of walking ethnography with male community members, who are primarily involved in honey collection within the Wayanad district of Kerala.

AxLaM: energy-efficient accelerator design for language models for edge computing.

Modern language models such as bidirectional encoder representations from transformers have revolutionized natural language processing (NLP) tasks but are computationally intensive, limiting their deployment on edge devices. This paper presents an energy-efficient accelerator design tailored for encoder-based language models, enabling their integration into mobile and edge computing environments. A data-flow-aware hardware accelerator design for language models inspired by Simba, makes use of approximate fixed-point POSIT-based multipliers and uses high bandwidth memory (HBM) in achieving significant improvements in computational efficiency, power consumption, area and latency compared to the hardware-realized scalable accelerator Simba.

Multi-organelle imaging with dye combinations: targeting the ER, mitochondria, and plasma membrane.

Multi-organelle imaging allows the visualization of multiple organelles within a single cell, allowing monitoring of the cellular processes in real-time using various fluorescent probes that target specific organelles. However, the limited availability of fluorophores and potential spectral overlap present challenges, and many optimized designs are still in nascency. In this work, we synthesized various sulfonamide-based organic fluorophores that emit in the blue, green, and red regions to target different sub-cellular organelles.

Structural insights into the recognition of RALF peptides by FERONIA receptor kinase during Brassicaceae pollination.

Ensuring species integrity and successful reproduction is pivotal for the survival of angiosperms. Members of Brassicaceae family employ a "lock and key" mechanism involving stigmatic (sRALFs) and pollen RALFs (pRALFs) binding to FERONIA, a Catharanthus roseus receptor-like kinase 1-like (CrRLK1L) receptor, to establish a prezygotic hybridization barrier. In the absence of compatible pRALFs, sRALFs bind to FERONIA, inducing a lock state for pollen tube penetration.

Role of polymer graft stiffness in electrostatic-driven self-assembly of nanoparticles in solutions.

Self-assembly of nanoparticles (NPs) in solution has garnered tremendous attention among researchers because of their electrical, chemical, and optoelectronic properties at the macroscale with potential applications in bio-imaging, bio-medicine, and therapeutics. Control of size, shape, and composition at the nanoscale is important in tuning the material's bulk properties. The grafting of NPs with polymers enables us to tune such bulk material properties at the nano level by controlling their assemblies, especially in solutions.

Exploring -Type Contact for Monolayer WS FETs Using Halogen Doping and Intermediate Layers.

This work presents a density functional theory (DFT) study of substitutional and adsorption-based halogen (I or F) doping of WS-based transistors to enhance their contact properties. Substitutional doping of the WS monolayer with halogens results in -type behavior, while halogen adsorption on the surface of the WS monolayer induces -type behavior. This is attributed to differing directions of charge flow, as supported by the Mulliken analysis.

Talbot effect based sensor measuring grating period change in subwavelength range.

Talbot length, the distance between two consecutive self-image planes along the propagation axis for a periodic diffraction object (grating) illuminated by a plane wave, depends on the period of the object and the wavelength of illumination. This property makes the Talbot effect a straightforward technique for measuring the period of a periodic object (grating) by accurately determining the Talbot length for a given illumination wavelength. However, since the Talbot length scale is proportional to the square of the grating period, traditional Talbot techniques face challenges when dealing with smaller grating periods and minor changes in the grating period.

In Vitro and In-Silico Assessment of Gaussian Curvature-driven Internalization Kinetics of Nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles have been of significant interest in various biomedical domains such as drug delivery, gene delivery, cytotoxicity analysis, and imaging. Despite the synthesis of a variety of nanoparticles, their cellular uptake efficiency remains a substantial obstacle, with only a small fraction of delivered nanoparticles (NPs) have been reported to traverse the cell membrane within 24 h. Consequently, higher doses are often necessitated, leading to increased toxicity concerns.

A comprehensive review on nanoparticle-based photo acoustic: current application and future prospective.

In vivo, molecular imaging is prevalent for biology research and therapeutic practice. Among advanced imaging technologies, photoacoustic (PA) imaging and sensing is gaining interest around the globe due its exciting features like high resolution and good (~ few cm) penetration depth. PA imaging is a recent development in ultrasonic technology that generates acoustic waves by absorbing optical energy.

Fabrication and characterization of ConA-conjugated curcumin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for theranostic applications in lung cancer treatment.

The main issues with current and traditional cancer therapy delivery systems include a lack of selectivity towards tumors, causing harm to healthy cells, low efficiency in loading drugs, and the inability to visually track the drug's localization after administration. These limitations negatively impact the effectiveness of therapy and result in increased treatment costs. Furthermore, conventional cancer therapies typically target tumor cells through a single mechanism, which eventually leads to the emergence of drug resistance.

Enzyme-Regulated Non-Thermal Fluctuations Enhance Ligand Diffusion and Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis.

Active enzymes during catalyzing chemical reactions, have been found to generate significant mechanical fluctuations, which can influence the dynamics of their surroundings. These phenomena open new avenues for controlling mass transport in complex and dynamically inhomogeneous environments through localized chemical reactions. To explore this potential, we studied the uptake of transferrin molecules in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells via clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Can structure influence hydrovoltaic energy generation? Insights from the metallic 1T' and semiconducting 2H phases of MoS.

Hydrovoltaic power generation from liquid water and ambient moisture has attracted considerable research efforts. However, there is still limited consensus on the optimal material properties required to maximize the power output. Here, we used laminates of two different phases of layered MoS - metallic 1T' and semiconducting 2H - as representative systems to investigate the critical influence of specific characteristics, such as hydrophilicity, interlayer channels, and structure, on the hydrovoltaic performance.

Photophysical behavior of meso-N-butylcarbazole-substituted BODIPY in different nano-scale organized media.

The present work focuses on the photophysical behavior of meso-N-butylcarbazole-substituted BODIPY (CBZ-BDP) in different organized media towards exploring the possible use of the dye as a molecular sensor and imaging agent. The molecule shows an appreciable change in absorption and emission spectra at 75% water-acetonitrile mixture compared to pure acetonitrile. In water-acetonitrile mixture, it displays aggregate-induced emission (AIE) bands.

Exploring micronutrients and microbiome synergy: pioneering new paths in cancer therapy.

The human microbiome is the complex ecosystem consisting of trillions of microorganisms that play a key role in developing the immune system and nutrient metabolism. Alterations in the gut microbiome have been linked to cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, and response to treatment. Accumulating evidence suggests that levels of vitamins and minerals influence the gut environment and may have implications for cancer risk and progression.

Annexin-derived self-assembling peptide nanostructures for alleviation of calcium oxalate -induced renal injury.

The formation of polycrystalline aggregates in the glomerulus or other components of the urinary system is indisputably the most critical step in the formation of kidney stones and calcium oxalate monohydrate (CaCO·HO) is the most prevalent form. On the other hand, Annexin A1 (ANXA1), a calcium-binding protein, markedly increased on the apical surface of renal cells in CaCO-induced nephrolithiasis. In this regard, we identified the peptide motif responsible for calcium binding and redesigned it into a self-assembling peptide sequence without disturbing its binding selectivity for the CaCO interface.

Maximising efficacy in HER2-positive breast cancer: immunoliposomal co-delivery of miR155 inhibitor and paclitaxel for targeted therapy.

Breast cancer, particularly the HER2 positive subtype, presents a formidable challenge in clinical oncology, necessitating innovative therapeutic strategies. Here, we present a novel immunoliposome-based formulation designed for targeted delivery of paclitaxel and miRNA inhibitors to HER2-positive breast cancer cells. Through a rigorous preclinical evaluation encompassing cellular studies and an tumor xenograft model, we demonstrate the formulation's remarkable efficacy in inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis, and suppressing tumor growth.

Live cell imaging of lipid droplets: fluorescent chalcones as probes for lipophagy and lipid-mitochondria interactions.

Lipid droplets are crucial organelles involved in cellular energy storage and metabolism, which is key in maintaining energy homeostasis through lipophagy. In this work, we successfully synthesized donor-acceptor chalcone derivatives (M1-M3) with improved photophysical characteristics, such as significant Stokes shifts and strong emission features. DFT and TDDFT calculations have been employed to evaluate the structure-property relationship of the chalcone derivatives.

Introduction to targeted biomedical applications of nanomaterials.

This new collection in , , and will focus on the design of multifunctional hybrid nanomaterials for different applications and on interfacing nanomaterials with biological systems for translational studies.

Self-Assembled DNA-Collagen Bioactive Scaffolds Promote Cellular Uptake and Neuronal Differentiation.

Different modalities of DNA/collagen complexes have been utilized primarily for gene delivery studies. However, very few studies have investigated the potential of these complexes as bioactive scaffolds. Further, no studies have characterized the DNA/collagen complex formed from the interaction of the self-assembled DNA macrostructure and collagen.