Sumit Kumar

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the increasing demand and disposal of surgical masks has resulted in significant economic costs and environmental impacts. Here, we applied a dual-channel spray-assisted nanocoating hybrid of shellac/copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) to a nonwoven surgical mask, thereby increasing the hydrophobicity of the surface and repelling aqueous droplets. The resulting surface showed outstanding photoactivity (combined photocatalytic and photothermal prope

Exosomes-nanosized extracellular vesicles (EVs) naturally secreted from cells-have emerged as promising biomarkers and potential therapeutic vehicles, but methods to manipulate them for engineering purposes remain elusive. Among the technical obstacles are the small size and surface complexity of exosomes and the complex processing steps required, which reduce the biocompatibility of currently available methods. The encapsulation of exosomes with a nanofilm of supramolecular complexes of ferric

Coronavirus has affected the entire global community owing to its transmission through respiratory droplets. This has led to the mandatory usage of surgical masks for protection against this lethal virus in many countries. However, the currently available disposable surgical masks have limitations in terms of their hydrophobicity and reusability. Here, we report a single-step spray-coating technique for the formation of a superhydrophobic layer of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on a mel

Highly reliable detection, imaging, and monitoring of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are critical for understanding and studying the biological roles and pathogenesis of ROS. This study describes the design and synthesis of myoglobin and polydopamine-engineered surface-enhanced Raman scattering (MP-SERS) nanoprobes with strong, tunable SERS signals that allow for specifically detecting and imaging ROS sensitively and quantitatively. The study shows that a polydopamine nanolayer can facilitate the

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) are continuously produced in the cellular systems and are controlled by several antioxidant mechanisms. Here, we developed a straightforward, sensitive, and quantitative assay for the colorimetric and spectroscopic detection of various ROS and RNS such as H2O2, ·OH, (-)OCl, NO·, and O2(-) using glutathione-modified gold nanoparticles (GSH-AuNPs). A basic principle here is that the GSHs on the AuNP surface can be readily detached via the formatio

Abstract The possibility of functional roles played by platelets in close alliance with cancer cells has inspired the design of new biomimetic systems that exploit platelet–cancer cell interactions. Here, the role of platelets in cancer diagnostics is leveraged to design a microfluidic platform capable of detecting cancer‐derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) from ultrasmall volumes (1 µL) of human plasma samples. Further, the captured EVs are counted by direct optical coding of plasmonic nanopro

Membrane fusion is one of the key phenomena in the living cell for maintaining the basic function of life. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have the ability to transfer information between cells through plasma membrane fusion, making them a promising tool in diagnostics and therapeutics. This study explores the potential applications of natural membrane vesicles, EVs, and their fusion with liposomes, EVs, and cells and introduces methodologies for enhancing the fusion process. EVs have a high loadin

Peculiar and unique growth mechanisms involved in semiconductor nanowires (NWs) pave the way to the achievement of new crystallographic phases and remarkable material properties, and hence, studying polytypism in semiconductor NWs arouses a strong interest for the next generation of electronic and photonic applications. In this context, the growth of ZnS nanowires has been investigated, as bulk ZnS compound exhibits numerous unstable polytypes at high temperatures, but their stable occurrence is

Tumor-derived extracellular vesicle (tEV)-associated RNAs hold promise as diagnostic biomarkers, but their clinical use is hindered by the rarity of tEVs among nontumor EVs. Here, we present EV-CLIP, a highly sensitive droplet-based digital method for profiling EV RNA. EV-CLIP utilizes the fusion of EVs with charged liposomes (CLIPs) in a microfluidic chip. Optimized CLIP surface charge enables exceptional sensitivity and selectivity for EV-derived miRNAs and mRNAs. This approach streamlines det

A cell, the fundamental unit of life, contains the requisite blueprint information necessary to survive and to build tissues, organs, and systems, eventually forming a fully functional living creature. A slight structural alteration can result in data misprinting, throwing the entire life process off balance. Advances in synthetic biology and cell engineering enable the predictable redesign of biological systems to perform novel functions. Individual functions and fundamental processes at the co

The advent of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based genome editing technologies has opened up groundbreaking possibilities for treating a wide spectrum of genetic disorders and diseases. However, the success of these technologies relies heavily on the development of efficient and safe delivery systems. Among the most promising approaches are natural and synthetic nanocarrier-mediated delivery systems, including viral vectors, extracellular vesicles (EVs), engin

Controlling the morphology, orientation, and crystal phase of semiconductor nanowires is crucial for their future applications in nanodevices. In this work, zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanowires have been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), using gold or gold-gallium alloys as catalyst. At first, basic studies on MOCVD growth regimes (mass-transport, zinc- or sulfur- rich conditions) have been carried out for ZnS thin films. Subsequently, the growth of ZnS nanowires was investigated,