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Engineered noble metal nanomaterials (NMN) possess adjustable optical, electrical, and biocompatible properties that make them excellent tools for probing the nano‐bio‐interface. Understanding their interactions with biomolecules, cells, and tissues at the nano‐bio‐interface is crucial in designing these nanomaterials for biomedical applications. This review summarizes the structure, properties, synthesis, and passivation methods of noble metal nanoparticles, as well as the construction strategy and detection technology of the nano‐bio‐interface to provide important information about their uptake, distribution, metabolism, and degradation in vivo and in vitro. The related action mechanisms include the kinetic and thermodynamic processes of the nano‐bio‐interface, the driving forces for its formation, and the chemical reactions at the nano‐bio‐interface. By exploring the action mechanism of the nano‐bio‐interface, the antibacterial properties and cytotoxicity of NMN could be better understood, and open up more extensive biological applications. Finally, the future trends of NMNs in the biological field and the challenges encountered in realizing these technologies are discussed. Engineered noble metal nanomaterials (NMNs) possess adjustable optical, electrical, and biocompatible properties that make them excellent tools for probing the nano‐bio‐interface. Understanding their interactions with biomolecules, cells, and tissues at the nano‐bio‐interface is crucial in designing these nanomaterials for biomedical applications. This review aims to investigate the factors that influence the interactions, and explore the underlying mechanisms of their biological applications.

Plant food bioactives (PFBs) offer immense health benefits with a greater scope for treating various life‐threatening diseases and lifestyle disorders. Knowing their therapeutic potentials, a lot of research works are being carried out on formulating PFBs‐loaded nano delivery systems (NDSs) to enhance their bioefficacy. However, limited information are available on the interactions occurring at the nano‐bio interface. Therefore, studies on nano‐bio interactions are of immense importance towards designing/formulating effective NDSs for PFBs. Understanding the significance of nano‐bio interface of food bioactive‐loaded NDSs would help us to predict the formation of biocorona as well as the correlation between the nanoparticles and their surrounding environments that are influenced by the NDS's physicochemical properties. The physicochemical characteristics of NDSs like size, shape, and surface charge will decide their fate in the biological fluids and have been discussed in detail. As the bioactives‐loaded NDS enters the gastrointestinal tract, formation of biocorona including protein and enzyme corona at the nano‐bio interface will takes place. Subsequently, the fate of PFBs‐loaded NDSs influences the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) processes and thereby its bioavailability, bioefficacy, and biosafety. The current review focuses on understanding the journey of PBFs‐loaded NDSs, the nature of interactions happening at nano‐bio interface, and its pharmacokinetics properties. In addition, a specific case study approach on curcumin‐loaded NDSs, and its reported interactions at nano‐bio interface, including ADME mechanism are comprehensively presented. Plant food bioactives loaded nano delivery systems representing major interacting components at nano‐bio interface and its pharmacokinetics

Sensing of viral antigens has become a critical tool in combating infectious diseases. Current sensing techniques have a tradeoff between sensitivity and time of detection; with 10–30 min of detection time at a relatively low sensitivity and 6–12 h of detection at a high (picomolar) sensitivity. In this research, uniquely nanoengineered interfaces are demonstrated on 3D electrodes that enable the detection of spike antigens of SARS‐CoV‐2 and their variants in seconds at femtomolar concentrations with excellent specificity, thus, overcoming this tradeoff. The 3D electrodes, manufactured using a high‐resolution aerosol jet 3D nanoprinter, consist of a microelectrode array of sintered gold nanoparticles coated with graphene and antibodies specific to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) spike antigens. An impedance‐based sensing modality is employed to sense several pseudoviruses of SARS‐CoV‐2 variants of concern (VOCs). This device is sensitive to most of the pseudoviruses of SARS‐CoV‐2 VOCs. A high sensitivity of 100 fm, along with a low limit‐of‐detection of 9.2 fm within a test range of 0.1–1000 pm, and a detection time of 43 s are shown. This work illustrates that effective nano‐bioengineering of interfaces can be used to create an ultrafast and ultrasensitive healthcare diagnostic tool for combating emerging infections. A 3D microelectrode‐based sensor manufactured by a high‐resolution Aerosol Jet 3D printer serves to detect several pseudoviruses of SARS‐CoV‐2 variants of concern. The high‐performance sensor shows a femtomolar sensitivity with a low limit of detection of 9.2 fm and a detection time of 43 s. This manufacturing modality creates a fast diagnostic tool for combating emerging infections.

•Beyond their traditional roles, polymers can directly serve as therapeutic agents.•Polymers gain new bioactivities when they interact with the biological system.•Their size must be sufficiently large to form nanostructures with other molecules.•Polymers may gain new activities only in vivo, based on the formation of a ‘corona’. A biological system is essentially an elegant assembly of polymeric nanostructures. The polymers in the body, biomacromolecules, are both building blocks and versatile messengers. We propose that non-biologically derived polymers can be potential therapeutic candidates with unique advantages. Emerging findings about polycations, polysaccharides, immobilised multivalent ligands, and biomolecular coronas provide evidence that polymers are activated at the nano–bio interface, while emphasising the current theoretical and practical challenges. Our increasing understanding of the nano–bio interface and evolving approaches to establish the therapeutic potential of polymers enable the development of polymer drugs with high specificities for broad applications.

Protein corona formation is critical for the design of ideal and safe nanoparticles (NPs) for nanomedicine, biosensing, organ targeting, and other applications, but methods to quantitatively predict the formation of the protein corona, especially for functional compositions, remain unavailable. The traditional linear regression model performs poorly for the protein corona, as measured by R² (less than 0.40). Here, the performance with R² over 0.75 in the prediction of the protein corona was achieved by integrating a machine learning model and meta-analysis. NPs without modification and surface modification were identified as the two most important factors determining protein corona formation. According to experimental verification, the functional protein compositions (e.g., immune proteins, complement proteins, and apolipoproteins) in complex coronas were precisely predicted with good R² (most over 0.80). Moreover, the method successfully predicted the cellular recognition (e.g., cellular uptake by macrophages and cytokine release) mediated by functional corona proteins. This workflow provides a method to accurately and quantitatively predict the functional composition of the protein corona that determines cellular recognition and nanotoxicity to guide the synthesis and applications of a wide range of NPs by overcoming limitations and uncertainty.

Surface topography profoundly influences cell adhesion, differentiation, and stem cell fate control. Numerous studies using a variety of materials demonstrate that nanoscale topographies change the intracellular organization of actin cytoskeleton and therefore a broad range of cellular dynamics in live cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not well understood, leaving why actin cytoskeleton responds to topographical features unexplained and therefore preventing researchers from predicting optimal topographic features for desired cell behavior. Here we demonstrate that topography-induced membrane curvature plays a crucial role in modulating intracellular actin organization. By inducing precisely controlled membrane curvatures using engineered vertical nanostructures as topographies, we find that actin fibers form at the sites of nanostructures in a curvature-dependent manner with an upper limit for the diameter of curvature at ~400 nm. Nanotopography-induced actin fibers are branched actin nucleated by the Arp2/3 complex and are mediated by a curvaturesensing protein FBP17. Our study reveals that the formation of nanotopography-induced actin fibers drastically reduces the amount of stress fibers and mature focal adhesions to result in the reorganization of actin cytoskeleton in the entire cell. These findings establish the membrane curvature as a key linkage between surface topography and topography-induced cell signaling and behavior.

In a perfect sequence of events, nanoparticles (NPs) are injected into the bloodstream where they circulate until they reach the target tissue. The ligand on the NP surface recognizes its specific receptor expressed on the target tissue and the drug is released in a controlled manner. However, once injected in a physiological environment, NPs interact with biological components and are surrounded by a protein corona (PC). This can trigger an immune response and affect NP toxicity and targeting capabilities. In this review, we provide a survey of recent findings on the NP-PC interactions and discuss how the PC can be used to modulate both cytotoxicity and the immune response as well as to improve the efficacy of targeted delivery of nanocarriers.

The convergence of nanotechnology and genome editing in plant sciences is redefining modern precision breeding through efficient, transgene free, tissue culture independent pathways for genetic improvement in crops. Conventional breeding and transgenic tools are limited to genotype dependency, inefficient gene delivery, unpredictable transgene insertions, thereby restricting their application in elite germplasm. Nanoparticles-mediated gene delivery systems have revolutionized the genetic transformation in plants through targeted and transgene free delivery of CRISPR/Cas ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), DNA, and RNA into plant cells, while minimizing genome interference. Nanocarriers are the engineered delivery systems wherein the material component is a nanoparticle. DNA-free delivery refers to the absence of exogenous DNA during editing, whereas transgene free plants are those that do not retain integrated foreign DNA after regeneration. Firstly, this review summarizes current progress in designing nanocarriers, including lipid, polymeric, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, carbon-based nanoparticles, layered double hydroxides, and DNA-based nanoparticles; harnessing the function of their physicochemical traits in modulating plant cellular uptake, cargo stability, controlled delivery, and tissue specific targeting in plants. Secondly, the broad-spectrum roles of nano particles in genome editing, crop protection via RNA interference, organelle-targeted modifications are discussed, stressing transgene free approaches to mitigate somaclonal variation and regulatory concerns to foster public acceptance. The integration of nano-mediated delivery with speed breeding, meristem transformation, multiplexed editing in elite germplasm is proposed as an approach for prompt trait stacking and validation. Thirdly, the collaborative roles of experts in the field of nanotechnology, plant breeding, plant physiology, and agronomy are mentioned for mitigating multifaceted climatic effects and glitches. Moreover, current challenges including nanotoxicity, scalability and field translation, regulatory concerns, and public perception are also discussed. While nanocarrier mediated delivery shows strong potential for improving plant genome engineering, current evidence is largely confined to controlled experimental systems, and significant challenges remain before routine integration into breeding pipelines becomes feasible.

The interface between nanoscale electronic devices and biological systems enables interactions at length scales natural to biology, and thus should maximize communication between these two diverse yet complementary systems. Moreover, nanostructures and nanostructured substrates show enhanced coupling to artificial membranes, cells, and tissue. Such nano–bio interfaces offer better sensitivity and spatial resolution as compared to conventional planar structures. In this work, we will report the electrical properties of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) interfaced with embryonic chicken hearts and cultured cardiomyocytes. We developed a scheme that allowed us to manipulate the nanoelectronic to tissue/cell interfaces while monitoring their electrical activity. In addition, by utilizing the bottom-up approach, we extended our work to the subcellular regime, and interfaced cells with the smallest reported device ever and thus exceeded the spatial and temporal resolution limits of other electrical recording techniques. The exceptional synthetic control and flexible assembly of nanowires (NWs) provides powerful tools for fundamental studies and applications in life science, and opens up the potential of merging active transistors with cells such that the distinction between nonliving and living systems is blurred.

Implantable electrical probes have led to advances in neuroscience, brain−machine interfaces, and treatment of neurological diseases, yet they remain limited in several key aspects. Ideally, an electrical probe should be capable of recording from large numbers of neurons across multiple local circuits and, importantly, allow stable tracking of the evolution of these neurons over the entire course of study. Silicon probes based on microfabrication can yield large-scale, high-density recording but face challenges of chronic gliosis and instability due to mechanical and structural mismatch with the brain. Ultraflexible mesh electronics, on the other hand, have demonstrated negligible chronic immune response and stable long-term brain monitoring at single-neuron level, although, to date, it has been limited to 16 channels. Here, we present a scalable scheme for highly multiplexed mesh electronics probes to bridge the gap between scalability and flexibility, where 32 to 128 channels per probe were implemented while the crucial brain-like structure and mechanics were maintained. Combining this mesh design with multisite injection, we demonstrate stable 128-channel local field potential and single-unit recordings from multiple brain regions in awake restrained mice over 4 mo. In addition, the newly integrated mesh is used to validate stable chronic recordings in freely behaving mice. This scalable scheme for mesh electronics together with demonstrated long-term stability represent important progress toward the realization of ideal implantable electrical probes allowing for mapping and tracking single-neuron level circuit changes associated with learning, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.