Research articles

Integrating droplet-based microfluidics with a modular DNA circuit, here the authors report on monitoring the amplification reaction from single enzyme molecules in real time, revealing the distribution of activity among the catalyst population and alternative inactivation pathways under various stresses.

Exploiting capillary interactions of oligomers in polydimethylsiloxane and Ga allows single-step formation of closely spaced Ga nanodroplets in which gap plasmon resonances lead to mechanoresponsive structural colours, bypassing multiple chemical or lithographic steps.

Tuberculosis is a major global health issue. Here the authors report Mycobacterium-pre-activated macrophage membrane-coated photothermal nanoparticles for targeted tuberculous granuloma and pathogen dual imaging and antibacterial photothermal therapy.

Here, the authors combined and synchronized single-cell nanoindentation, electrophysiology and functional fluorescence imaging to evaluate the responses of neuronal networks to mechanical stimuli with piconewton force sensitivity and nanometre precision, enabling the exploration of nanomechanobiology and manipulation of neuronal systems.

Manufacturing complexities, low yield and stability issues have hampered the clinical translation and scaling-up of immunoliposomes to meet the needs of pharmaceutical-grade products. The authors propose a one-step method of incorporating chimeric nanobodies tagged to hydrophobic linkers into liposomes, allowing targeted delivery of small-molecule anti-cancer drugs to tumours.

In regenerative medicine, stem-cell-derived extracellular vesicles are emerging as cell-free nanotherapeutics. Here, the authors show that coating these nanovesicles with blood proteins such as albumin improves their uptake by liver cells, offering a better treatment strategy for liver diseases.

A transition metal/carbon nanocomposite material has been designed for positive electrodes in Li||S batteries. It enables Li||S batteries to be fast charged–discharged in <5 min, which represents a breakthrough in the development of high-power Li||S batteries.

Assessment of the health risks of exposure to anthropogenic nanomaterials is crucial to maximize their potential applications. This double-blind, randomized controlled study in healthy humans evaluates the impact of inhalation of graphene oxide nanosheets on acute pulmonary and cardiovascular functions.

Here the authors present a non-FRET DNA-templated silver nanocluster probe that exhibits a distinct colour switch from green to red upon nuclease digestion, visible under UV excitation, offering a low-cost, effective alternative to fluorescent reporters for detecting nuclease activities.

Distinguishing proteoforms and post-translational modifications has remained a challenge. Here the authors explore single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer to probe amino acids via DNA exchange and map the location of individual amino acids and post-translational modifications within single full-length protein molecules.

An electric dipole spin resonance protocol making use of hyperfine interaction enacts high-fidelity initialization of a four-qubit nuclear spin register in silicon. This protocol allows for high-fidelity qubit control and a path towards a register-based quantum computer using the exceptional coherence properties of donors in silicon.

The nanospace confinement of a magnetic nanoparticle within a porous cage, coupled with an encodable DNA clutch interface, enables a remotely powered and controlled rotary nanomotor that is autoresponsive to its microenvironment.

Synchronized dynamics of quantum dot ensembles are essential for the generation of giant optical responses. To this end, coherent electronic coupling in quantum dot solids induces cooperative enhancement of nonlinear optoelectronic responses.

A novel scanning single-electron charging spectroscopy enables nanometre-scale imaging of quasiparticle excitations and thermodynamic gaps in generalized Wigner crystals.

Ptychography is a coherent diffractive imaging method that enables atomic resolution in four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy. Taking advantage of the nature of the investigated object, and therefore using atomic-orbital-like functions for the reconstruction of the object, the resolution can be further improved to an information limit of 14 pm.

Insects have been shown to have the ability to detect different chemical agents. Here, the authors present a nanomaterial-assisted neuromodulation strategy to augment the chemosensory abilities of insects via photothermal effect and on-demand neurotransmitter release from cargo-loaded nanovehicles to augment natural sensory function.

In vivo positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) remains a challenge due to the lack of single-particle tracers. Here a sub-micrometre silica particle has been radiolabelled and isolated with high specific activity, allowing the dynamic tracing of a single particle in vivo using PEPT in mice.

Resolving interactions of negligibly charged or neutral small molecules with their binding partners in a label-free manner is challenging. Here the authors present a single-molecule carbon-nanotube biosensor device for capturing aptamer–neurotransmitter kinetics at high temporal resolution, uncovering four-state structural transitions.

Proteins absorbed on nanomaterials often lose function due to denaturation. A poly(propylene sulfone) nanoparticle with site-specific dipole relaxation has been reported, which allows proteins to anchor to the nanoparticle without disrupting the hydrogen bonding or structure maintaining the protein functionality.

A hybrid valley-centre tandem optical structure that combines perovskites and organic light-emitting diodes is demonstrated to obtain an efficient emitting device, showing the commercial potential of perovskite displays.