(Press-News.org) CLEVELAND—Case Western Reserve University chemist Divita Mathur was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant for her research in synthetic DNA nanoparticles, which have potential applications in gene therapy.
The grant will support Mathur’s work in synthesizing nanoparticles and studying how they behave inside cells in a laboratory. She will use single-cell injections and a microscope to track the nanoparticles and watch what happens to them over time inside individual cells.
The CAREER award is considered the agency’s most prestigious grant to junior faculty members “who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” Mathur, assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, is among three CWRU faculty members awarded CAREER grants this year.
“This groundbreaking work is a great example of fundamental science that could lead to new life-saving treatments,” said David Gerdes, dean of the college. “The CAREER award shows that she is a rising star, not only on our campus, but also in our national scientific community.”
Mathur’s DNA nanoparticles are highly programmable and could be designed to encode a gene that replaces a missing or malfunctioning gene, instructing a cell to produce a needed protein or correct a genetic error.
In many genetic diseases, scientists know the gene that needs to be corrected, Mathur said.
“The problem is the delivery,” she said. “It’s easy to deliver things to the liver, so liver-based therapies are in clinical trials. Converting this to another area of the body is difficult, which is one of the things that motivates us to pursue this research.”
Mathur said that eventually these DNA nanoparticles could also be designed with an attachment that functions like a barcode on an envelope, sending it to a particular address, or in this case, targeting a particular kind of cell.
The CAREER Award grant allows Mathur to delve into the basic question of how these manufactured DNA structures behave once they get inside a cell. To study that, she will attach a molecule to the DNA that fluoresces so the particles can be observed by microscope inside a living cell.
“We don’t know how these nanoparticles act when they are inside the cell; how they interact with the proteins that are inside,” Mathur said. “We have to understand that fundamentally before we can imagine how to design therapeutics.”
The CAREER award also provides funding for Mathur to engage high school students in summertime chemistry research projects and for building mixed-reality, three-dimensional models of chemical and biochemical molecules.
“We want to show students how molecules are three-dimensional, how they occupy space and how they have a specific orientation in space, like right or left-handedness,” she said.
Earlier this year, Mathur received the university’s John S. Dieckhoff Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring. One of the undergraduates working in her lab, Sara Desai, received the prestigious Barry Goldwater scholarship, a highly competitive national scholarship that provides tuition assistance for students who intend to pursue research careers in science, mathematics or engineering.
###
At Case Western Reserve, one of the nation's leading research universities, we're driven to seek knowledge and find solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems. Nearly 6,200 undergraduate and 6,100 graduate students from across 96 countries study in our more than 250 degree programs across arts, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing, science and social work. Our location in Cleveland, Ohio—a hub of cultural, business and healthcare activity—gives students unparalleled access to engaging academic, research, clinical, entrepreneurial and volunteer opportunities and prepares them to join our network of 125,000+ alumni making an impact worldwide. Visit case.edu to learn more.
END
Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy
Case Western Reserve University chemist receives prestigious NSF CAREER Award for ‘programmable’ nanoparticles
2025-07-03
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer
2025-07-03
Researchers working on an incurable blood cancer can now use a new lab model which could make testing potential new treatments and diagnostics easier and quicker, new research has found.
In a paper published in Nature Communications a team of researchers led from the University of Birmingham have studied blood cells from patients with a blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome disease (MDS). This disease often develops into a highly aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML).
Working with this new model ...
Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support
2025-07-03
Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) represents one of the most common yet challenging conditions treated in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. While the emergence of multiple options for non-invasive respiratory support has revolutionized care in such cases, selecting the optimal approach remains difficult. Now, a special issue from the Journal of Intensive Medicine titled “Non-invasive respiratory support for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure” provides key insights to guide these critical treatment decisions.
This collection establishes a robust foundation for understanding the key respiratory support ...
T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus
2025-07-03
LA JOLLA, CA—A new study, published recently in Nature Communications, offers the first-ever map of which parts of Chikungunya virus trigger the strongest response from the body's T cells.
With this map in hand, researchers are closer to developing Chikungunya vaccines or therapies that harness T cells to strike specific targets, or "epitopes," to halt infection. The new study also offers important clues for understanding why many people experience chronic, severe joint pain for years after clearing the virus.
"Now we can see what T cells are seeing patients with chronic disease," says LJI Assistant Professor ...
Gantangqing site in southwest China yields 300,000-year-old wooden tools
2025-07-03
New discoveries from the Pleistocene-age Gantangqing site in southwestern China reveal a diverse collection of wooden tools dated from ~361,000 to 250,000 years ago, marking the earliest known evidence of complex wooden tool technology in East Asia. The findings reveal that the Middle Pleistocene humans who used these tools crafted the wooden implements not for hunting, but for digging and processing plants. Although early humans have worked with wood for over a million years, wooden artifacts are quite rare in the archaeological ...
Forests can’t keep up: Adaptation will lag behind climate change
2025-07-03
Ecologists are concerned that forest ecosystems will not keep pace with a rapidly changing climate, failing to remain healthy and productive. Before the rapid climate change of the past century, tree populations in the Northern Hemisphere adapted to colder and warmer periods over thousands of years. During onsets of Ice Ages, tree populations migrated south, seeking warmer conditions as global temperatures cooled, their seeds dispersed by winds and carried by animals. When the climate warmed again, tree species adapted by migrating north to more suitable conditions. Mature trees are long-lived, and their populations can’t migrate quickly. Current climate change ...
Sturgeon reintroduction initiative yields promising first-year survival rate
2025-07-03
Ecologists celebrated the release of thousands of palm-sized lake sturgeon into northwest Ohio's Maumee River in 2018, kicking off an ambitious two-decade plan to re-establish the ancient species in the waters it once called home.
More than five years later, it’s still too soon to declare success. But early signs are promising, according to recent research led by The University of Toledo and published in the peer-reviewed North American Journal of Fisheries Management.
The research tracked the first-year survival rates for cohorts released in 2018, 2019 and 2021, with results suggesting that the initiative is on track to achieve its goal of a self-sustaining ...
Study: Babies’ poor vision may help organize visual brain pathways
2025-07-03
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Incoming information from the retina is channeled into two pathways in the brain’s visual system: one that’s responsible for processing color and fine spatial detail, and another that’s involved in spatial localization and detecting high temporal frequencies. A new study from MIT provides an account for how these two pathways may be shaped by developmental factors.
Newborns typically have poor visual acuity and poor color vision because their retinal cone cells are not well-developed at birth. This means that early in life, they are seeing blurry, color-reduced imagery. The MIT team proposes that such blurry, color-limited ...
Research reveals Arctic region was permafrost-free when global temperatures were 4.5˚ C higher than today
2025-07-03
Scientists have found evidence that the Asian continent was free of permafrost all the way to its northerly coast with the Arctic Ocean when Earth’s average temperature was 4.5˚C warmer than today, suggesting that the whole Northern Hemisphere would have also been free of permafrost at the time.
The stark findings indicate that if average global temperatures were to rise by this amount in the future, permafrost found in the Northern Hemisphere today would thaw.
Such a temperature increase would release up to 130 billion tonnes of carbon currently frozen in the ground over the coming decades.
The ...
Novel insights into chromophobe renal cell carcinoma biology and potential therapeutic strategies
2025-07-03
New Haven, Conn. — Cancer fighting T-cells, the immune system’s primary enforcers, are scarce in the rare kidney cancer called chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) and those that are present are indifferent to the tumor threat and traditional immune therapies, revealing the need for new targets and treatments.
Those are among the results described in a July 2 published report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that set out to understand the biology of certain kidney tumors, including ChRCC, and their immune responses.
The study found that ChRCC, which accounts ...
A breakthrough in motor safety: AI-powered warning system enhances capability to uncover hidden winding faults
2025-07-03
Enhanced diagnostic method of the ITSC fault
The study, led by Dr. Wentao Huang, overcame a critical gap in five-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) diagnostics: conventional methods fail to assess inter-turn short-circuit (ITSC) severity. The method integrates two technologies: a real-time tracker that diagnoses faults, and an AI analyzer that processes signals to quantify damage while estimating short-circuit parameters.
Overcoming the Blind Spot
For years, the challenge of quantifying inter-turn short-circuit severity in operating motors has stumped engineers, as traditional methods struggled ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching
New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia
Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future
Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air
Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction
Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor
How game-play with robots can bring out their human side
Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease
UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery
New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis
XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion
Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors
Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?
Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture
Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy
New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer
Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support
T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus
Gantangqing site in southwest China yields 300,000-year-old wooden tools
Forests can’t keep up: Adaptation will lag behind climate change
Sturgeon reintroduction initiative yields promising first-year survival rate
Study: Babies’ poor vision may help organize visual brain pathways
Research reveals Arctic region was permafrost-free when global temperatures were 4.5˚ C higher than today
Novel insights into chromophobe renal cell carcinoma biology and potential therapeutic strategies
A breakthrough in motor safety: AI-powered warning system enhances capability to uncover hidden winding faults
Research teases apart competing transcription organization models
Connect or reject: Extensive rewiring builds binocular vision in the brain
Benefits and risks: informal use of antibiotics to prevent sexually transmitted infections on the rise in key populations in the Netherlands
New molecular tool sheds light on how cancer cells repair telomeres
First large-scale stem cell bank enables worldwide studies on genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease
[Press-News.org] Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapyCase Western Reserve University chemist receives prestigious NSF CAREER Award for ‘programmable’ nanoparticles