biomimetics

Advances in engineering enable wheeled-legged hybrid locomotion, an achievement not feasible in biological systems.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is considered to be one of the major causes of cardiovascular disease. Its pathological microenvironment is characterized by increased production of reactive oxygen species, lipid oxides, and excessive inflammatory factors, which accumulate at the monolayer endothelial cells in the vascular wall to form AS plaques. Therefore, intervention in the pathological microenvironment would be beneficial in delaying AS. Researchers have designed biomimetic nanomedicines with excellent biocompatibility and the ability to avoid being cleared by the immune system through different therapeutic strategies to achieve better therapeutic effects for the characteristics of AS...

The creation of free-standing lipid membranes has been so far of remarkable interest to investigate processes occurring in the cell membrane since its unsupported part enables studies in which it is important to maintain cell-like physicochemical properties of the lipid bilayer, that nonetheless depend on its molecular composition. In this study, we prepare pore-spanning membranes that mimic the composition of plasma membranes and perform force spectroscopy indentation measurements to unravel mechanistic insights depending on lipid composition...

The complex genomics, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), and chemotherapeutic resistance of osteosarcoma (OS) have resulted in limited therapeutic effects in the clinic. Ferroptosis is involved in tumor progression and is regulated mainly by glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based RNA interference (RNAi) can precisely target any gene. However, achieving effective siRNA delivery is highly challenging. Here, we fabricated a TME-responsive metal-organic framework (MOF)-based biomimetic nanosystem (mFeP@si) with siGPX4 delivery and sonodynamic therapy (SDT) to treat OS by targeting ferroptosis...

Self-powered pressure detection using smart wearable devices is the subject of intense research attention, which is intended to address the critical need for prolonged and uninterrupted operations. Current piezoelectric and triboelectric sensors well respond to dynamic stimuli while overlooking static stimuli. This study proposes a dual-response potentiometric pressure sensor that responds to both dynamic and static stimuli. The proposed sensor utilizes interdigital electrodes with MnO2 /carbon/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the cathode and conductive silver paste as the anode...

BACKGROUND: Large bone defects pose a clinical treatment challenge; inhibiting transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2), which is involved in iron metabolism, can promote osteogenesis. Iron-based metal-organic frameworks (MOF-Fe) particles not only inhibit TfR2 but also serve as biomimetic catalysts to remove hydrogen peroxide in reactive oxygen species (ROS); excess ROS can disrupt the normal functions of osteoblasts, thereby hindering bone regeneration. This study explored the potential effects of MOF-Fe in increasing osteogenic activity and clearing ROS...

Droplet-based microfluidics-assisted fabrication of alginate microgels has extensive applications in biomaterials, biomedicines, and related fields. This approach is typically achieved by crosslinking droplets of an aqueous solution of sodium alginate with various divalent and trivalent ions, such as Ca2+ , Ba2+ , Sr2+ , etc. Despite the exceptional features exhibited by bulk alginate hydrogels when using Iron ions as the crosslinking reagent, including stimulus responsiveness and complex chemistry, no attention has been given to studying the fabrication of Fe-alginate microgels through droplet microfluidics...

Thrombosis is the main cause of catastrophic events including ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) therapy offers a desirable approach to antithrombosis through a reduction of platelet reactivity. However, major bleeding complications, severe off-target side effects, and resistance or nonresponse to ASA greatly attenuate its clinical outcomes. Herein, we report a cationic fibrinogen-mimicking nanoparticle, denoted as ASA-RGD-CS@TPP, to achieve activated-platelet-targeted delivery and efficient release of ASA for safer and more effective antithrombotic therapy...

Artificial bone graft with osteoconductivity, angiogenesis, and immunomodulation is promising clinical therapeutics for the reluctant healing process of bone defects. Among various osteogenic substitutes, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement is a quit competitive platform due to its easy deployment to the bone defects with irregular shape and biomimetic mechanical properties. However, the biologically inert essence of PMMA is reliant on the passive osseointegration and cannot provide sufficient biologic cues to induce fast bone repair...

Diabetic wounds are characterized by chronic trauma, with long-term non-healing attributed to persistent inflammation and recurrent bacterial infections. Exacerbation of the inflammatory response is largely due to increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, catalase (CAT) was used as a biological template to synthesize nanozyme-supported natural enzymes (CAT-Mn(SH)x ) using a biomimetic mineralization method. Subsequently, polymyxin B (CAT-Mn(SH)x @PMB) was immobilized on its surface through electrostatic assembly...

Severe acute pancreatitis (AP) is a life-threatening pancreatic inflammatory disease with a high mortality rate (∼40%). Existing pharmaceutical therapies in development or in clinical trials showed insufficient treatment efficacy due to their single molecular therapeutic target, poor water solubility, short half-life, limited pancreas-targeting specificity, etc. Herein, acid-responsive hollow mesoporous Prussian blue nanoparticles wrapped with neutrophil membranes and surface modified with the N , N -dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine moiety were developed for codelivering membrane-permeable calcium chelator BAPTA-AM (BA) and trypsin activity inhibitor gabexate mesylate (Ga)...

Chirality is a structural metric that connects biological and abiological forms of matter. Although much progress has been made in understanding the chemistry and physics of chiral inorganic nanoparticles over the past decade, almost nothing is known about chiral two-dimensional (2D) borophene nanoplatelets and their influence on complex biological networks. Borophene's polymorphic nature, derived from the bonding configurations among boron atoms, distinguishes it from other 2D materials and allows for further customization of its material properties...

The development of electronic skin with dual stealth functionality is crucial for enabling devices to operate effectively in dynamic electromagnetic environments, thereby facilitating intelligent electromagnetic protection for autonomous perception. However, achieving compatibility between terahertz (THz) and infrared (IR) stealth technologies remains largely unexplored due to their inherent contradictions. Herein, inspired by natural corals, a novel coral-like multi-scale composite foam (CMSF) was proposed that ingeniously reconciles these contradictions...

3D printing of a living bioanode holds the potential for the rapid and efficient production of bioelectrochemistry systems. However, the ink (such as sodium alginate, SA) that formed the matrix of the 3D-printed bioanode may hinder extracellular electron transfer (EET) between the microorganism and conductive materials. Here, we proposed a biomimetic design of a 3D-printed Shewanella bioanode, wherein riboflavin (RF) was modified on carbon black (CB) to serve as a redox substance for microbial EET. By introducing the medicated EET pathways, the 3D-printed bioanode obtained a maximum power density of 252 ± 12 mW/m2 , which was 1...

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Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is overexpressed in numerous cancers, promotes the maturation of numerous oncoproteins and facilitates cancer cell growth. Certain HSP90 inhibitors have entered clinical trials. Although less than satisfactory clinical effects or insurmountable toxicity have compelled these trials to be terminated or postponed, these results of preclinical and clinical studies demonstrated that the prospects of targeting therapeutic strategies involving HSP90 inhibitors deserve enough attention...

The association between dysfunctional microglia and amyloid-β (Aβ) is a fundamental pathological event and increases the speed of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Additionally, the pathogenesis of AD is intricate and a single drug may not be enough to achieve a satisfactory therapeutic outcome. Herein, we reported a facile and effective gene therapy strategy for the modulation of microglia function and intervention of Aβ anabolism by ROS-responsive biomimetic exosome-liposome hybrid nanovesicles (designated as TSEL)...

Endometrial injury poses a significant challenge in tissue regeneration, with type III collagen (COL III) playing a pivotal role in maintaining endometrial integrity and facilitating repair. Our study explored the utility of recombinant human type III collagen (RHC) as an intervention for endometrial damage. To address the challenges associated with the inherent instability and rapid degradation of COL III in vivo, we developed an RHC-HA hydrogel by conjugating RHC with hyaluronic acid (HA), thus ensuring a more stable and sustained delivery...

The human toe, characterized by its rigid-flexible structure comprising hard bones and flexible joints, facilitates adaptive and stable movement across varied terrains. In this paper, we utilized a motion capture system to study the adaptive adjustments of toe joints when encountering obstacles. Inspired by the mechanics of toe joints, we proposed a novel design method for a rigid-flexible coupled wheel. The wheel comprises multiple elements: a rigid skeleton, supporting toes, connecting shafts, torsion springs, soft tendons, and damping pads...

Engineered living structures with the incorporation of functional bacteria have been explored extensively in recent years and have shown promising potential applications in biosensing, environmental remediation, and biomedicine. However, it is still rare and challenging to achieve multifunctional capabilities such as material production, shape transformation, and sensing in a single-engineered living structure. In this study, we demonstrate bifunctional living structures by synergistically integrating cellulose-generating bacteria with pH-responsive hydrogels, and the entire structures can be precisely fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) printing...