Thinned and Welded Silver Nanowires for Intelligent Pressure and Humidity Sensing Enabled by Machine Learning.

The rapid development of flexible and wearable technologies urgently requires high-performance and compatible flexible electrodes. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are considered a promising conductive material, but their inherent structural drawbacks significantly hinder their widespread application. Here, an innovative and facile strategy is employed to simultaneously enhance the electrical and optical properties of AgNWs by precisely tuning their microstructure.

Adaptive Nanoplasmonics Controlled by Soft Polymers.

Plasmonic nanoparticles are important building blocks in contemporary nanoscience and nanotechnology and have demonstrated promising applications in biosensing, biodiagnostics, and drug delivery. However, nanoplasmonic structures are mainly based on inorganic materials that are typically rigid and lack adaptiveness. A viable solution is to attach soft ligands─including molecules, polymers, and biospecies─to plasmonic nanoparticles to offer adaptive and stimuli-responsive functionalities at biointerfaces.

Amino Acid-Mediated Preparation of Highly Dendritic Chiral Plasmonic Nanoparticles for SERS-Based Enantiomer Recognition.

Chiral plasmonic nanoparticles (CPNPs) are blooming building blocks in modern nanotechnology and have attracted great attention due to their unique capabilities in manipulating light, enabling enantiomeric-based theranostics, realizing chiral sensing, and so on. Here, we report a strategy for the preparation of highly dendritic CPNPs. Using gold nanotriangles as seeds and cysteine as a shape-directing agent, two distinct dendritic nanostructures, termed gold nanoflowers (Au NFs) and gold nanourchins (Au NUs), can be obtained by adjusting the cysteine concentration within the reaction system.

Wet chemically produced nanomaterials for soft wearable biosensors.

Wearable biosensors are gaining significant attention for their ability to monitor vital health signs remotely, continuously, and non-invasively. Nanomaterials offer transformative potential for next-generation soft wearable sensors, enabling seamless skin integration with enhanced comfort and data accuracy. Wet chemistry provides a scalable, cost-effective approach to producing nanomaterials, transforming rigid sensors into soft, flexible, and stretchable devices for broader wearable applications.

Ion-Electron Interactions in 2D Nanomaterials-Based Artificial Synapses for Neuromorphic Applications.

With the increasing limitations of conventional computing techniques, particularly the von Neumann bottleneck, the brain's seamless integration of memory and processing through synapses offers a valuable model for technological innovation. Inspired by biological synapse facilitating adaptive, low-power computation by modulating signal transmission via ionic conduction, iontronic synaptic devices have emerged as one of the most promising candidates for neuromorphic computing. Meanwhile, the atomic-scale thickness and tunable electronic properties of van der Waals two-dimensional (2D) materials enable the possibility of designing highly integrated, energy-efficient devices that closely replicate synaptic plasticity.

Structural insights into the catalytic mechanism of the microcystin tailoring enzyme McyI.

The most common cyanotoxin microcystin is a cyclic heptapeptide produced by non-ribosomal peptide-polyketide synthetases and tailoring enzymes. The tailoring enzyme McyI, a 2-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase, converts (3-methyl)malate into (3-methyl)oxaloacetate to produce the non-proteinogenic amino acid (3-methyl)aspartate. The reaction is NAD(P)-dependent but the catalytic mechanism remains unclear.

Sensing the Future of Thrombosis Management: Integrating Vessel-on-a-Chip Models, Advanced Biosensors, and AI-Driven Digital Twins.

Thrombotic events, such as strokes and deep vein thrombosis, remain a significant global health burden, with traditional diagnostic methods often failing to capture the complex, patient-specific nuances of thrombosis risk. This Perspective explores the revolutionary potential of microengineered vessel-on-chip platforms in thrombosis research and personalized medicine. We discuss the evolution from basic microfluidic channels to advanced 3D-printed, patient-specific models that accurately replicate complex vascular geometries, incorporating all elements of Virchow's triad.

Crystal Structure of a Thioredoxin-like Ferredoxin Encoded Within a Cobalamin Biosynthetic Operon of Rhodobacter capsulatus.

Thioredoxin-like ferredoxin is a small homodimeric protein containing a [2Fe-2S] cluster in each monomer. It is only found in bacteria but its physiological function remains largely unknown. The cobalamin biosynthetic operon in the genome of the purple phototroph Rhodobacter capsulatus encodes a putative ferredoxin dubbed as CfrX.

Directed Cell Growth of C2C12 Cells on ECM Free Bioprinted Nano/Micro Scaffolds.

Skeletal muscle cell growth impairment can result in severe health issues, such as reduced mobility, metabolic problems, and cardiovascular issues, which can significantly impact an individual's overall health and lifestyle. To address this issue, it is essential to adopt a multi-faceted approach. Conventional 2D cell culture methods fail to replicate the critical features of in vivo micro/nanoarchitecture, which is crucial for the growth of skeletal muscle cells.

Flexible yet Durable Microneedle Electrodes Based on Nanowire-Embedded Polyimide for Precise Wearable Electrophysiological Monitoring.

A precise recording of electrophysiological signals requires high-performance flexible bioelectrodes to build a robust skin interface. The past decade has witnessed encouraging progress in the development of elastomeric electrodes for wearable electrophysiological monitoring; however, it remains challenging to achieve excellent flexibility, conformal contact, and high durability simultaneously. Herein, we report on an effective method to fabricate flexible yet durable microneedle electrodes (MEs) based on vertically aligned gold nanowires (Au NWs) embedded polyimide (PI), which meet the above three design requirements.

Gold Nanowire Sponge Electrochemistry for Permeable Wearable Sweat Analysis Comfortably and Wirelessly.

Electrochemistry-based wearable and wireless sweat analysis is emerging as a promising noninvasive method for real-time health monitoring by tracking chemical and biological markers without the need for invasive blood sampling. It offers the potential to remotely monitor human sweat conditions in relation to metabolic health, stress, and electrolyte balance, which have implications for athletes, patients with chronic conditions, and individuals for the early detection and management of health issues. The state-of-the-art mainstream technology is dominated by the concept of a wearable microfluidic chip, typically based on elastomeric PDMS.

The dynamic changes and correlations between biochemical properties, flavor and microbial community during fermentation of asparagus by-products.

Asparagus by-products are the promising resource that urgently need to be re-valorized. This study investigated the dynamic changes in physicochemical properties, organic acids, free amino acids, volatile flavor compounds, microbial succession, and their correlations during 7-day spontaneous fermentation of asparagus by-products. Dominant organic acids (lactic acid and acetic acid) and free amino acids (Ser, Glu, and Ala) increased with fermentation time, with lactic acid reaching 7.

Real-time electro-mechanical profiling of dynamically beating human cardiac organoids by coupling resistive skins with microelectrode arrays.

Cardiac organoids differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells are emerging as a promising platform for pre-clinical drug screening, assessing cardiotoxicity, and disease modelling. However, it is challenging to simultaneously measure mechanical contractile forces and electrophysiological signals of cardiac organoids in real-time and in-situ with the existing methods. Here, we present a biting-inspired sensory system based on a resistive skin sensor and a microelectrode array.

Conservation and Divergence of Gene Family in Different Ploidy Bamboos.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), as a necessary enzyme for higher plants to participate in photosynthesis, plays a key role in photosynthetic carbon metabolism and the stress response. However, the molecular biology of the family of Bambusoideae has been poorly studied, and the function of its members in the growth and development of Bambusoideae is still unclear. Here, we identified a total of 62 PEPC family members in bamboo.

Selection and Validation of Reference Genes in for Quantitative Real-Time PCR.

(Munro) Kurz is a sympodial bamboo species with a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. Due to its remarkable regenerative ability and exceptional flavor, this species plays a pivotal role in bolstering the economies of numerous nations across these regions. We recently published a high-quality genome of this species.

Jellyfish-like Gold Nanowires as FlexoSERS Sensors for Sweat Analysis.

We introduce the FlexoSERS sensor, which is notable for its high stretchability, sensitivity, and patternability. Featuring a hierarchically oriented jellyfish-like architecture constructed from stretchable gold nanowires, this sensor provides an ultrasensitive SERS signal even under 50% strain, with an enhancement factor (EF) of 3.3 × 10.

Tailor-Made Gold Nanomaterials for Applications in Soft Bioelectronics and Optoelectronics.

In modern nanoscience and nanotechnology, gold nanomaterials are indispensable building blocks that have demonstrated a plethora of applications in catalysis, biology, bioelectronics, and optoelectronics. Gold nanomaterials possess many appealing material properties, such as facile control over their size/shape and surface functionality, intrinsic chemical inertness yet with high biocompatibility, adjustable localized surface plasmon resonances, tunable conductivity, wide electrochemical window, etc. Such material attributes have been recently utilized for designing and fabricating soft bioelectronics and optoelectronics.

Multi-Interface Engineering of MXenes for Self-Powered Wearable Devices.

Self-powered wearable devices with integrated energy supply module and sensitive sensors have significantly blossomed for continuous monitoring of human activity and the surrounding environment in healthcare sectors. The emerging of MXene-based materials has brought research upsurge in the fields of energy and electronics, owing to their excellent electrochemical performance, large surface area, superior mechanical performance, and tunable interfacial properties, where their performance can be further boosted via multi-interface engineering. Herein, a comprehensive review of recent progress in MXenes for self-powered wearable devices is discussed from the aspects of multi-interface engineering.

Deciphering the regulatory role of PheSnRK genes in Moso bamboo: insights into hormonal, energy, and stress responses.

The SnRK (sucrose non-fermentation-related protein kinase) plays an important role in regulating various signals in plants. However, as an important bamboo shoot and wood species, the response mechanism of PheSnRK in Phyllostachys edulis to hormones, low energy and stress remains unclear. In this paper, we focused on the structure, expression, and response of SnRK to hormones and sugars.

Materials-Driven Soft Wearable Bioelectronics for Connected Healthcare.

In the era of Internet-of-things, many things can stay connected; however, biological systems, including those necessary for human health, remain unable to stay connected to the global Internet due to the lack of soft conformal biosensors. The fundamental challenge lies in the fact that electronics and biology are distinct and incompatible, as they are based on different materials via different functioning principles. In particular, the human body is soft and curvilinear, yet electronics are typically rigid and planar.

Single-cell transcriptome atlas reveals spatiotemporal developmental trajectories in the basal roots of moso bamboo ().

Roots are essential for plant growth and development. Bamboo is a large Poaceae perennial with 1642 species worldwide. However, little is known about the transcriptional atlas that underpins root cell-type differentiation.

Wearable Smart Bandage-Based Bio-Sensors.

Bandage is a well-established industry, whereas wearable electronics is an emerging industry. This review presents the bandage as the base of wearable bioelectronics. It begins with introducing a detailed background to bandages and the development of bandage-based smart sensors, which is followed by a sequential discussion of the technical characteristics of the existing bandages, a more practical methodology for future applications, and manufacturing processes of bandage-based wearable biosensors.