Congratulations Karin U. D. Calvinho and Anders Laursen on winning the initial phase of Nasa’s CO2 Conversion Challenge!
"The purpose of the challenge is to convert carbon dioxide into glucose in order to eventually create sugar-based fuel, food, medicines, adhesives and other products
Neurotransmitters, for instance dopamine (DA), are significant endogenous signals in the central nervous system (CNS), as they play vital roles in modulating neurophysiological processes including cognition, emotion, memory, and other behaviors. Therefore, fast, ultra-sensitive, non-destructive and robust detection of neurotransmitters during stem cell differentiation and neuromodulation processes in the CNS would be of paramount importance for gaining an insight into how neural interactions regulate brain functions, developing better molecular diagnostics and therapeutics for neurological disorders. To this end, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have recently gained extensive attention as optical biosensors due to their excellent photo-stability, narrow emission bandwidths, as well as high signal to noise ratio, showing great potential in various applications; however, the relatively weak luminescence intensity due to low quantum efficiencies compromises the further development of UCNP-based applications.
Stem cells have attracted increasing research interest in the field of regenerative medicine because of their unique ability to differentiate into multiple cell lineages. However, controlling stem cell differentiation efficiently and improving the current destructive characterization methods for monitoring stem cell differentiation are the critical issues.
Chemoresistance is a major challenge facing the effective treatment of cancers. To overcome resistance to chemotherapy, microRNA (miRNA), which are short (20−22 nucleotides) noncoding RNA molecules, has shown to be an attractive strategy. A growing body of evidence shows that modulation of miRNA levels in cancer can mitigate the development and progression of cancer.
Considering the intrinsically limited regenerative capability of the central nervous system (CNS) and the complex inhibitory microenvironment of injured spinal cord, developing effective therapeutics for CNS diseases and injuries [e.g., Parkinson disease and spinal cord injury (SCI)] has been challenging. To this end, stem cell therapy can provide a promising solution. Neural stem cells can differentiate into neurons and restore the damaged neuronal circuits. Additionally, stem cells modulate the inhibitory microenvironment at the site of CNS disease and injury through the secretion of trophic factors. Nevertheless, the low survival rate and incomplete differentiation control of stem cells in vivo are critical barriers for the full realization of stem cell therapy potential. As such, there is an urgent need to develop an innovative approach to enhance stem cell transplantation and to control stem cell fate precisely.
Seeking a better way to capture radioactive iodides in spent nuclear reactor fuel, Rutgers–New Brunswick scientists have developed an extremely efficient “molecular trap” that can be recycled and reused.
The construction of stimulus-responsive supramolecular complexes of metabolic pathway enzymes, inspired by natural multi-enzyme assemblies (metabolons), provides an attractive avenue for efficient and spatio-temporally controllable one-pot biotransformations.
In the face of the growing demand of energy worldwide and the unabated negative environmental impacts of fossil fuels, alternative and greener energy sources are critically important.
The research of Professor Kathryn Uhrich has designed and examined a library of sugar-based amphiphilic polymers (SBAPs) which demonstrate promise in diverse biomedical applications, ranging from nanoscale drug delivery vehicles to cardiovascular therapeutics.
Naturally derived antioxidants and antimicrobials (eugenol, carvacrol, thymol) were chemically incorporated as pendant groups into biodegradable poly(anhydride-esters) composed of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as backbone, and hydrolytic degradation of these polymers yielded the free compounds which exhibited bioactivity.
Transcription factor (TF) proteins are master regulators of transcriptional activity and gene expression.
Luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs) are a sub-class of metal organic framework materials that possess interesting and useful optical emission properties, making them both fundamentally important and technologically relevant for practical applications.
The research of Associate Professor Joseph Marcotrigiano has isolated and examined an outer region of hepatitis C that enables the virus to evade the body’s natural immune system response, which causes persistent, chronic infection.
Damage to the central nervous system (CNS) can cause severe neurological deficits, thus requiring innovative strategies to promote functional recovery.
Cationic amphiphilic macromolecules were complexed with liposomal delivery systems to encapsulate and efficiently deliver siRNA in response to a decrease in endosomal pH and silence target genes with minimal cytotoxicity.
Surfactants of many kinds, simple soaps, phospho- glycol- and proteo- lipids spontaneously self-assemble to form transparent thermodynamically stable solutions of association colloids, e.g., micelles, vesicles and microemulsions.
Stem cell-based therapies and cellular reprogramming holds immense potential for regenerative medicine
Professor Jing Li's recent development of rare-earth-free phosphors was featured at the American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting on August 19, 2015.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is central to gene expression. RNA stabilty is determined largely by the chemical nature of the RNA 5' end.
While stem cell therapies appear very promising, there is a critical gap that exists between our current knowledge and the practical application of stem cell therapies, and as a result, there is not a single stem cell therapy that is approved by the FDA!
Graphene is composed of single-atom thick sheets of carbon atoms that are arranged in a perfect two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.
Stem-cell-based therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for regenerative medicine due the ability of stem cells to differentiation into any given cell type.
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