In Applied Physics Reviews, by AIP Publishing, researchers from China and the United States examine how biology triggers morphological changes in certain types of nanoparticles. These types of particles are called smart transformable nanoparticles, because they can alter their size and shape upon stimulation from their surrounding environment.

Rice University receives National Science Foundation support to build a model of cell differentiation during the earliest stage of life. The model could help improve researchers’ ability to direct stem cells to a given fate.

Despite nearly two million people dying of acute kidney injury every year, and tens of millions more needing treatment, no effective drug treatment for the condition is available. Furthermore, most acute kidney injury patients are elderly with poor prognosis, making acute kidney injury a major public health issue and an enormous socioeconomic burden in aging nations. Scientists have therefore searched for unexplored molecular signaling pathways that make promising drug targets. A new study led by ASHBi Professor Motoko Yanagita reports one such pathway by showing a lower expression of two molecules, CD153 and CD30, on specific types of immune cells attenuates dysfunction in aged kidneys.

Measuring plant phenotypes, a term used to describe the observable characteristics of an organism, is a critical aspect of studying and improving economically important crops. Phenotypes central to the breeding process include traits like kernel number in corn, seed size in wheat, or fruit color in grape. These features are visible to the naked human eye but are in fact driven by microscopic molecular and cellular processes in the plant. Using three-dimensional (3D) imaging is a recent innovation in the plant biology sector to capture phenotypes on the “whole-plant” scale: from miniscule cells and organelles in the roots, up to the leaves and flowers. However, current 3D imaging processes are limited by time-consuming sample preparation and by imaging depth, usually reaching only a few layers of cells within a plant tissue. New research led by Christopher Topp, PhD, associate member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and Keith Duncan, a research scientist in his lab, have pioneered X-ray microscope technology to image plant cells, whole tissues, and even organs at unprecedented depths with cellular resolution. The work, supported by Valent BioSciences LLC and Sumitomo Chemical Corporation, was recently published in the scientific journal Plant Physiology, titled X-ray microscopy enables multiscale high-resolution 3D imaging of plant cells, tissues, and organs. This work will enable plant scientists globally to study above and below-ground traits at revolutionary clarity.