Self-assembly of short peptides and DNA-based materials in precision biomedical applications Anirban Das, Devang Vaghela, Sharad Gupta, Dhiraj Bhatia, Abhijit Biswas Supramolecular Materials, 2026 The spontaneous assembly of molecular components into highly organised and functional nanostructures through non-covalent interactions constitutes a defining aspect of advanced biomaterials design. This thorough study covers current breakthroughs in self-assembling short peptides and DNA-based materials, which represent a transformative frontier in precise medicinal applications. We investigate the fundamental principles governing their self-assembly mechanisms, including hydrogen bonding, van der Waals interactions, electrostatic forces, π-π aromatic stacking, and metal coordination, which collectively enable the formation of responsive and programmable biomaterial platforms. Self-assembled peptide hydrogels display extraordinary adaptability across different biomedical fields. In drug delivery systems, these materials allow controlled, prolonged, and targeted therapeutic release through stimuli-responsive processes activated by pH, temperature, light, redox conditions, and enzyme activity. For anticancer therapy, peptide hydrogels provide specific tumor microenvironment targeting, addressing complex temperature heterogeneity and acidic conditions while supporting combination chemotherapy and immunotherapy techniques. In wound healing applications, these biomaterials accelerate chronic wound repair by replicating the extracellular matrix, enabling sustained growth factor supply, and exhibiting antimicrobial characteristics that prevent infection while encouraging re-epithelialization. Regenerative medicine applications showcase the potential of these materials in bone regeneration, where peptide hydrogels stimulate osteogenic differentiation and hydroxyapatite binding, and in neural regeneration, where they support axonal growth and functional recovery in spinal cord and peripheral nerve injuries. These hydrogels excel as 3D cell culture platforms and stem cell niches, permitting regulated differentiation and transplantation success while retaining cell viability and proliferation. DNA hydrogels give exceptional programmability and molecular recognition capabilities, enabling advanced biosensing applications and multi-modal therapeutic administration. However, problems including nuclease degradation under physiological settings are addressed by creative stabilising solutions including chemical changes, protective coatings, and hybrid system integration. This review highlights the paradigm shift from passive biomaterials to intelligent, adaptive systems that actively participate in therapeutic processes, positioning self-assembled peptide and DNA hydrogels as foundational technologies for next-generation precision medicine, tissue engineering, and regenerative therapeutics.
Biomaterials and Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutics in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Translation Dia Panchal, Dattavi Solanki, Raghu Solanki, Amit K. Yadav, Dhiraj Bhatia, Pankaj Yadav ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2026 Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis, represent a growing global health crisis characterized by irreversible neuronal loss, protein aggregation, chronic neuroinflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Central to their therapeutic intractability is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly selective neurovascular interface that excludes nearly 98% of conventional pharmacological agents from the central nervous system (CNS). Nanoparticle- and biomaterial-based delivery platforms have emerged as promising strategies to overcome these barriers, encompassing liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, engineered exosomes, inorganic nanoparticles, and hydrogel scaffolds capable of enabling targeted CNS drug delivery. This Review systematically evaluates the landscape of nanomaterial-based neurotherapeutics across disease-specific pathological contexts, critically analyzing translational failure mechanisms including limited parenchymal brain exposure, receptor saturation during transcytosis, protein corona-mediated immune clearance, and nanoscale toxicity in postmitotic neural tissue. Preclinical-to-clinical translational gaps arising from interspecies BBB transporter heterogeneity and pharmacokinetic divergence are examined alongside manufacturing and regulatory barriers impeding Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-scale production. Emerging convergence strategies─including AI-integrated design, hybrid physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, theranostic nanoplatforms, and wearable bioresponsive delivery systems─are evaluated for their capacity to address these limitations. The review concludes by proposing a framework for developing clinically viable, disease-modifying CNS nanomedicines.
Hierarchically engineered injectable hydrogels loaded with polyphenol for enhanced wound healing and tissue regeneration Prasanna Kumari Barani, Indu Yadav, Manisha Meena, Ankur Singh, Aneri Joshi, Devanshi Gajjar, Sriram Seshadri, Dhiraj Bhatia, Mukesh Dhanka Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2026 The injectable SCLP hydrogel is an 'all-in-one' lab-synthesized polymeric network. It mimics the ECM and delivers multiple functionalities to boost tissue regeneration and heal full-thickness wounds.
Alpha-Tocopherol-Conjugated DNA Tetrahedron with Enhanced Cellular Uptake and Cytotoxicity for Cancer Therapeutics P. Chithra, Ankesh Kumar, Payal Vaswani, Raghu Solanki, Dhiraj Bhatia ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2026 Cancer remains one of the most fatal diseases worldwide. Current therapies often lack specificity and cause toxicity to healthy tissues. DNA nanotechnology, an emerging interdisciplinary field, facilitates the design of programmable, biocompatible, and structurally precise DNA-based nanostructures, with promising applications in drug delivery, biosensing, and therapeutics. However, the negatively charged plasma membrane limits the cellular uptake of negatively charged DNA nanostructures. Although strategies such as cationic lipid coating or electrostatic complexation have been explored to enhance DNA stability, these approaches can exhibit heterogeneous lipid coverage and batch-to-batch variability, potentially leading to variable protective efficacy. Furthermore, drug delivery using DNA tetrahedron (TD) or conventional chemotherapies frequently results in off-target effects due to poor drug specificity. To address these challenges, this study explores the conjugation of a hydrophobic molecule, alpha-tocopherol succinate (αT), known for its selective cytotoxicity toward malignant cells over normal cells at appropriate concentrations. In this study, we engineered a hydrophobic TD by conjugating αT (TD_αT) to an amino-modified M1 oligonucleotide using HOBt-EDC amide coupling. This was followed by one-pot self-assembly with complementary strands to form the TD_αT conjugate. The TD_αT conjugate maintained the selective toxicity of αT, and cellular uptake varied between different cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines. TD_αT induced elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, leading to apoptosis specifically in malignant cells. These findings demonstrate a DNA nanostructure-based delivery platform that combines selective cytotoxicity with improved cellular internalization, offering a promising strategy for targeted cancer therapy.
Current and Future Applications of Three-Dimensional Brain and Cardiac Organoids in Translational Medicine: From Disease Modeling to Drug Discovery Anchal Kaushik, Daby Thakur Prasad Mishra, Raghu Solanki, Dhiraj Bhatia ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science, 2026 Over the past decade, organoid research has made transformative advances, emerging as a powerful platform to address key limitations of traditional biomedical models. Although animal systems remain indispensable for studying disease mechanisms, their limited ability to accurately recapitulate human-specific physiology and pathophysiology has contributed to the high failure rate of drug candidates during clinical translation. The emergence of three-dimensional (3D) organoid systems, such as brain and cardiac organoids derived from stem cells, represents a major technological breakthrough. These self-organizing multicellular constructs closely mimic key architectural, cellular, and functional features of native human tissues, enabling more physiologically relevant modeling of complex neurological and cardiovascular disorders. Beyond fundamental biological investigations, brain and cardiac organoids have demonstrated substantial utility in drug screening, toxicity assessment, and precision medicine approaches, including patient-specific disease modeling and therapeutic response prediction. This review highlights recent progress in brain and cardiac organoid technologies, discusses their applications in translational and regenerative medicine, and evaluates their current limitations and future directions in disease modeling and drug discovery.
Comparative study of medicinal-plant-derived carbon nanoparticles: green synthesis, antioxidant behavior, and metal-ion sensing Parul Singh, Padma Priya Kannan, Aniruddha Dan, Hitasha Vithalani, Nihal Singh, Mukesh Dhanka, Dhiraj Bhatia, Jhuma Saha Nano Express, 2026 This study presents a green nanotechnology approach for the eco-friendly, chemical-free synthesis of Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) using five medicinal plants: Syzygium cumini, Holy Basil, Azadirachta indica, Psidium guajava, and Bergera koenigii , via a rapid microwave-assisted method. The resulting CNPs exhibit red fluorescence with strong absorption near 650 nm and quantum yields (up to 25.2%), making them attractive candidates for optical nanodevice applications. Detailed nanostructural and spectroscopic analyses confirmed quasi-spherical morphology (10–60 nm), amorphous carbon phases (XRD), and the presence of surface functional groups from bioactive plant metabolites (FTIR). These plant-derived nanomaterials exhibited strong antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS assays) and demonstrated excellent sensitivity and selectivity in fluorescence-based detection of toxic metal ions. Notably, P. guajava CNPs detected Ni 2+ (LOD: 0.09 ppm), A. indica for Fe 2+ (LOD: 0.11 ppm), Holy Basil for Fe 2+ and Pb 2+ (0.011 and 0.022 ppm), and S. cumini for Fe 3+ (LOD: 0.012 ppm). Biocompatibility assessments revealed minimal cytotoxicity at low concentrations, with Holy Basil -derived CNPs being the most biocompatible. This work advances green nanotechnology by demonstrating a sustainable, multifunctional CNP platform with integrated optical, sensing, and biomedical capabilities highlighting its potential for environmental monitoring and bio-nanotechnology applications.
Enzyme decorated microbubbles as self-propelling motors Palash Dhara, Niyati Shah, Arnab Maiti, Md Moinuddin, Kaustubh Rane, Jyoti Jaiswal, Nihal Singh, Dhiraj Bhatia, Krishna Kanti Dey Journal of Physics Condensed Matter an Institute of Physics Journal, 2026
Growth factor-triggered de-sialylation controls glycolipid-lectin-driven endocytosis Ewan MacDonald, Alison Forrester, Cesar A. Valades-Cruz, Thomas D. Madsen, Joseph H. R. Hetmanski, Estelle Dransart, Yeap Ng, Rashmi Godbole, Ananthan Akhil Shp, Ludovic Leconte, Valérie Chambon, Debarpan Ghosh, Alexis Pinet, Dhiraj Bhatia, Bérangère Lombard, Damarys Loew, Martin R. Larsen, Hakon Leffler, Dirk J. Lefeber, Henrik Clausen, Anne Blangy, Patrick Caswell, Massiullah Shafaq-Zadah, Satyajit Mayor, Roberto Weigert, Christian Wunder, Ludger Johannes Nature Cell Biology, 2025
Diagnosing resistant microbial community via nanohybrids: a brief crosstalk Amit K. Yadav, Damini Verma, Pranjal Agarwal, Shikha Tiwari, Dhiraj Bhatia Nanodiagnostics to Identify and Detect Microbial Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Volume 1 Nanotheranostics Microbial Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance, 2025
Friction Mediates Scission of Tubular Membranes Scaffolded by BAR Proteins Mijo Simunovic, Jean-Baptiste Manneville, Henri-François Renard, Emma Evergren, Krishnan Raghunathan, Dhiraj Bhatia, Anne K. Kenworthy, Gregory A. Voth, Jacques Prost, Harvey T. McMahon, Ludger Johannes, Patricia Bassereau, Andrew Callan-Jones Cell, 2017
Future of titanium alloy castings Foundry Trade Journal, 2005
RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
DNA nanotechnology for cell engineering and immunotherapy A Mansuri, H Joshi, A Kumar, D Bhatia Next Bioengineering 2, 100019 , 2026 2026
Bael (Aegle marmelos) fermentation enriches probiotic bacteria producing postbiotic exopolysaccharides: linking structure to functional properties K Pandey, G Prakash, R Dave, S Kosara, A Singh, H Gosai, N Gour, ... Food Bioscience, 109120 , 2026 2026
Biomaterials and Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutics in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Translation D Panchal, D Solanki, R Solanki, AK Yadav, D Bhatia, P Yadav ACS Chemical Neuroscience , 2026 2026
DNA cross-over motifs-based, programmable supramolecular hydrogels for the mechanoregulatory effects of cellular behaviour and cytoskeleton reorganization A Singh, A Yadav, N Singh, R Solanki, A Srivastava, D Bhatia npj Biomedical Innovations 3 (1), 30 , 2026 2026 Citations: 3
CD44-targeted immunoliposomes for IL-1β knockdown modulate macrophage-mediated inflammation H Shukla, S Nasra, M Patel, D Bhatia, A Kumar Communications Biology , 2026 2026
Alpha-Tocopherol-Conjugated DNA Tetrahedron with Enhanced Cellular Uptake and Cytotoxicity for Cancer Therapeutics P Chithra, A Kumar, P Vaswani, R Solanki, D Bhatia ACS Applied Bio Materials 9 (8), 3821-3831 , 2026 2026
Programmable DNA nanocages to modulate pollen tube growth via active uptake S Ghosh, V Shekhar, S Gupta, D Bhatia, S Sankaranarayanan bioRxiv, 2026.03. 06.710033 , 2026 2026
microRNA Modulation: A Promising Combination Therapy for Cancer S Tiwari, D Bhatia, AK Yadav Springer Nature , 2026 2026 Citations: 1
From nature to engineering: translational progress in biological, biomimetic, and bioinspired nanomaterials for next-generation technologies V Kashyap, M Sarkar, N Singh, A Singh, D Verma, D Bhatia, AK Yadav Progress in Materials Science, 101684 , 2026 2026 Citations: 2
Current and Future Applications of Three-Dimensional Brain and Cardiac Organoids in Translational Medicine: From Disease Modeling to Drug Discovery A Kaushik, D Thakur Prasad Mishra, R Solanki, D Bhatia ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science 9 (3), 490-505 , 2026 2026
Mechanoresponsive Biomaterials: Principles, Mechanisms, and Applications A Rajeev, J Patil, AK Yadav, U Modi, R Solanki, D Bhatia ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering , 2026 2026 Citations: 2
Comparative study of medicinal-plant-derived carbon nanoparticles: green synthesis, antioxidant behavior, and metal-ion sensing P Singh, PP Kannan, A Dan, H Vithalani, N Singh, M Dhanka, D Bhatia, ... Nano Express , 2026 2026
DNA-Driven Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation from Cellular Condensates to Programmable Synthetic Systems S Kosara, A Biswas, AK Yadav, R Solanki, D Bhatia ACS Applied Bio Materials , 2026 2026
miRNA Delivery Systems, Improvements, and Challenges D Tuteja, AK Yadav, D Bhatia, A Kumar microRNA Modulation: A Promising Combination Therapy for Cancer, 209-232 , 2026 2026
miRNA Deregulation and Its Role in Progression and Advancement of Cancer JR Patil, P Agarwal, AK Yadav, D Bhatia, N Chaudhary microRNA Modulation: A Promising Combination Therapy for Cancer, 37-58 , 2026 2026
Antiangiogenic miRNA-Based Combination Therapy P Agarwal, J Patil, D Bhatia, AK Yadav microRNA Modulation: A Promising Combination Therapy for Cancer, 299-320 , 2026 2026
miRNA-Based Combinatorial Approach for Therapeutic Efficacy Improvement of Chemotherapy in Relapse and Multidrug Resistance Tumor FL Contractor, K Panchal, R Solanki, D Bhatia, U Modi microRNA Modulation: A Promising Combination Therapy for Cancer, 233-255 , 2026 2026
Synthesis of Newly Designed Fatty Acid Containing Benzimidazole-Triazole Hybrids from Sustainable Precursor as Potential Anticancer Agents Targeting Human Breast Adenocarcinoma JR Ghonia, BL Parmar, D Bhatia, J Parikh, BZ Dholakiya Journal of Molecular Structure, 145421 , 2026 2026
Enzyme decorated microbubbles as self-propelling motors P Dhara, N Shah, A Maiti, M Moinuddin, K Rane, J Jaiswal, N Singh, ... Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter , 2026 2026
Influence of Physicochemical Parameters on the in vitro Stability of DNA Tetrahedral Nanostructures J Viroja, K Rajput, S Jain, DD Bhatia bioRxiv, 2026.05. 10.724064 , 2026 2026
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
A synthetic icosahedral DNA-based host–cargo complex for functional in vivo imaging D Bhatia, S Surana, S Chakraborty, SP Koushika, Y Krishnan Nature communications 2 (1), 339 , 2011 2011 Citations: 276
Icosahedral DNA nanocapsules by modular assembly D Bhatia, S Mehtab, R Krishnan, SS Indi, A Basu, Y Krishnan Angewandte Chemie International Edition 48 (23), 4134-4137 , 2009 2009 Citations: 270
Friction mediates scission of tubular membranes scaffolded by BAR proteins M Simunovic, JB Manneville, HF Renard, E Evergren, K Raghunathan, ... Cell 170 (1), 172-184. e11 , 2017 2017 Citations: 246
Quantum dot-loaded monofunctionalized DNA icosahedra for single-particle tracking of endocytic pathways D Bhatia, S Arumugam, M Nasilowski, H Joshi, C Wunder, V Chambon, ... Nature nanotechnology 11 (12), 1112-1119 , 2016 2016 Citations: 191
Controlled release of encapsulated cargo from a DNA icosahedron using a chemical trigger A Banerjee, D Bhatia, A Saminathan, S Chakraborty, S Kar, Y Krishnan Angew. Chem. Int. Ed 52 (27), 6854-6857 , 2013 2013 Citations: 161
Functional DNA based hydrogels: development, properties and biological applications V Morya, S Walia, BB Mandal, C Ghoroi, D Bhatia ACS biomaterials science & engineering 6 (11), 6021-6035 , 2020 2020 Citations: 128
Geometry of a DNA Nanostructure Influences Its Endocytosis: Cellular Study on 2D, 3D, and in Vivo Systems A Rajwar, SR Shetty, P Vaswani, V Morya, A Barai, S Sen, M Sonawane, ... ACS nano 16 (7), 10496-10508 , 2022 2022 Citations: 123
Recent advances in nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for rheumatoid arthritis treatment S Nasra, D Bhatia, A Kumar Nanoscale advances 4 (17), 3479-3494 , 2022 2022 Citations: 105
Structural DNA nanotechnology: From bases to bricks, from structure to function S Modi, D Bhatia, FC Simmel, Y Krishnan The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 1 (13), 1994-2005 , 2010 2010 Citations: 97
Stimulus-responsive hydrogels for targeted cancer therapy R Solanki, D Bhatia Gels 10 (7), 440 , 2024 2024 Citations: 90
A method to study in vivo stability of DNA nanostructures S Surana, D Bhatia, Y Krishnan Methods 64 (1), 94-100 , 2013 2013 Citations: 77
Self-healing, injectable chitosan-based hydrogels: structure, properties and biological applications R Solanki, M Dhanka, P Thareja, D Bhatia Materials Advances 5 (13), 5365-5393 , 2024 2024 Citations: 71
Nanomedicines as a cutting-edge solution to combat antimicrobial resistance R Solanki, N Makwana, R Kumar, M Joshi, A Patel, D Bhatia, DK Sahoo RSC advances 14 (45), 33568-33586 , 2024 2024 Citations: 69
Carbon-based designer and programmable fluorescent quantum dots for targeted biological and biomedical applications K Barve, U Singh, P Yadav, D Bhatia Materials Chemistry Frontiers 7 (9), 1781-1802 , 2023 2023 Citations: 51
Red emitting carbon dots: surface modifications and bioapplications D Benner, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nanoscale advances 5 (17), 4337-4353 , 2023 2023 Citations: 50
Advancing the frontier of artificial intelligence on emerging technologies to redefine cancer diagnosis and care A Vyas, K Kumar, A Sharma, D Verma, D Bhatia, N Wahi, AK Yadav Computers in biology and medicine 191, 110178 , 2025 2025 Citations: 47
Unusual aggregates formed by the self-assembly of proline, hydroxyproline, and lysine B Koshti, V Kshtriya, R Singh, S Walia, D Bhatia, KB Joshi, N Gour ACS Chemical Neuroscience 12 (17), 3237-3249 , 2021 2021 Citations: 45
Peptide functionalized DNA hydrogel enhances neuroblastoma cell growth and differentiation P Hivare, A Gangrade, G Swarup, K Bhavsar, A Singh, R Gupta, P Thareja, ... Nanoscale 14 (24), 8611-8620 , 2022 2022 Citations: 43
Biochemical and biophysical cues of the extracellular matrix modulates stem cell fate: progress and prospect in extracellular matrix mimicking biomaterials A Mishra, U Modi, R Sharma, D Bhatia, R Solanki Biomedical Engineering Advances 9, 100143 , 2025 2025 Citations: 42
Synthetic, biofunctional nucleic acid-based molecular devices D Bhatia, S Sharma, Y Krishnan Current Opinion in Biotechnology 22 (4), 475-484 , 2011 2011 Citations: 42