Polina Anikeeva | Bioelectronics at MIT

Area I: Magnetic manipulation and recording of neuronal signaling with nanomaterials

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic fields can penetrate deep into the body without being attenuated due to low conductivity and negligible magnetic permeability of the biological matter. By delivering magnetic nanomaterials into biological systems we enable manipulation of a variety of physiological processes with weak magnetic fields. Through a combination of magnetic nanomaterials synthesis and characterization, we create a diversity of magnetic nanotransducers capable of selectively converting distinct magnetic fields into specific signals perceived by receptors in neurons. To date, we have developed nanotransducers that undergo heating (Science 2015) in rapidly alternating magnetic fields to trigger heat-sensitive ion channels as well as nanotransducers that exert a physical torque (ACS Nano 2019) stimulating mechanosensitive ion channels. By coupling heating to thermosensitive reactions, we have demonstrated nanotransducers that can deliver ions (Nano Lett. 2020) and pharmacological compounds (Nat. Nanotechnol. 2019) to target chemoreceptors. We have applied our nanotransducers to wirelessly and minimally-invasively manipulate neuronal activity, hormonal release (Sci. Adv. 2020), and behavior (Nat. Comm. 2021) under physiological and pathological conditions. Our current work continues to explore fundamental properties of magnetic nanomaterials with the goal of expanding the array of available magnetic modalities for neuromodulation. We are additionally interested in delivery and visualization of our materials within specific organs and specific cell types.

Magnetic Nanotransducers

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Neuromodulation approaches available to the neuroscience community are either mechanically invasive (electrical stimulation), require transgenes (e.g. optogenetics, DREADDs), or lacking the resolution and cell-type specificity (ultrasound, transcranial magnetic stimulation). In our group we explore magnetic nanomaterials as transducers of wireless magnetic neuromodulation (Science, 2015). Due to its negligible magnetic susceptibility and low conductivity, biological matter is nearly transparent to weak magnetic fields (MFs) in alternating the low radiofrequency range (10s of kHz to 10s of MHz). Furthermore, it is well known in the field of cancer hyperthermia that magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs, 5-30 nm in diameter) can dissipate significant heat via hysteretic power loss in MFs. We leveraged this local heating to trigger heat-sensitive ion channels genetically introduced (Science 2015) or naturally present in electroactive cells (Sci. Adv. 2020). To achieve efficient heat dissipation and thus rapid neuronal activation, we have synthesized a broad palette of tertiary magnetic oxides with coercivities varying across three orders of magnitude (ACS Nano 2013; Nano Lett. 2016) and developed a model for dynamic hysteresis in magnetic nanomaterials, which allowed us to tailor the conditions of alternating MF (Rev. Sci. Instr. 2017) to the MNP properties. The latter lead to the idea of magnetothermal multiplexing (Appl. Phys. Lett. 2014; Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020): the ability to independently heat (collocated) MNPs with different magnetic properties by using alternating MFs with distinct amplitudes and frequencies – a concept previously overlooked due to the use of linear models of hysteresis.

In addition to thermal stimulation of neural activity, we are leveraging hysteretic heat dissipation to enable local magnetically-driven delivery of pharmacological compounds to the membranes of neurons (Adv. Funct. Mater. 2016). This concept was further generalized by encapsulating MNPs within thermo-sensitive liposomes that releases their pharmacological payloads in response to the remotely applied MFs. Loaded with ligands for the natural or engineered receptors, these magneto-liposomes could mediate local chemomagnetic modulation of neuronal activity, enabling wireless control of mouse behavior in assays of sociability and motivation (Nat. Nanotechnol. 2019).

Finally, we are exploring alternative means for using magnetic nanomaterials for neuromodulation, for example we are developing magnetic nanodiscs as transducers of mechanical stimuli under slow-varying MFs. Mechanical transduction mediated by magnetic nanomaterials demands either large MF gradients (~100 T/m) or particles with large magnetic moments. While the former is impractical in behaving subjects, the latter presents a challenge due to dipole-dipole interactions between single particle magnetic moments that render them colloidally unstable in solutions. We have addressed this challenge by developing anisotropic nanodiscs that in the absence of magnetic fields support a magnetic vortex state with zero net magnetization ensuring their colloidal stability. Upon application of weak, slow varying MFs, these particles assume in-plane magnetization and transduce torques to the cell membranes proportional to their magnetic volumes (ACS Nano 2020).

Area II: Multifunctional interfaces with central and peripheral nervous systems

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

To understand the signaling complexity in neural circuits, while matching the mechanical and chemical properties of tissues and organs, we design miniature, soft, and flexible multifunctional devices capable of electrical, optical, and chemical interrogation of neuronal activity. Devices capable of interfacing with organs as diverse as the brain, spinal cord, and the gastrointestinal tract, demand versatility in materials, designs, and fabrication approaches to adapt to the target organ anatomy and physiology. We combine scalable fiber drawing with additive/subtractive manufacturing and traditional lithographic techniques to seamlessly integrate polymers, metals, composites, and solid-state microelectronics into multifunctional probes with microscale features. Our fiber-based probes have enabled optogenetics, electrophysiology, and drug and gene delivery in the brain (Nat. Biotech.) and spinal cord (Sci. Adv.) of behaving rodents (Nat. Neurosci.) and have recently permitted multifunctional interrogation of neuronal signaling (Sci. ADv.) in non-human primates performing complex tasks. More recently, we have created wireless probes that enabled optical neuromodulation and physiological recordings across gut and the brain, allowing for long-term studies of gut-brain circuits in behaving subjects (Nat. Biotech.). Our current work seeks to expand the palette of functional features in diverse device architectures to advance the basic understanding of brain-body neural circuits as well as develop bioelectronic therapies for neurobiological disorders.

Multifunctional Fibers

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Currently available interface technologies for mapping of neural circuits suffer from fundamental limitations of low resolution, inability to perform multiple functions (recording, stimulation, drug delivery, chemical sensing etc.) simultaneously, and limited application space (i.e. cortex). Furthermore, the difference between the elastic and chemical properties of the neural tissues and the implanted probes results in a profound foreign body response and the formation of glial scars that isolate the devices from healthy tissue resulting in a loss of useful signal. By employing flexible and biocompatible neural probes we intend to address both the mechanical and chemical issues of neural recording devices. Furthermore, using simultaneous processing of multiple materials we can incorporate capabilities inaccessible to existing lithographically defined devices, such as simultaneous optical or pharmacological stimulation combine with high-resolution neural recording.

By leveraging recent advances in multi-material fiber-drawing processing traditionally used in telecommunications industry as well as photonics research, we combine polymers, metals and conductive composites to produce flexible probes incorporating conductive electrodes, optical waveguides and microfluidic channels (Nat. Biotechnol. 2015; Nat. Neurosci. 2017). These multifunctional fiber-based probes with features as small as 5 µm allow, for the first time, for concomitant neural recording, optogenetic stimulation and drug delivery in the brain of freely moving mice, a set of capabilities indispensable in systems neuroscience, a field that aims to connect the dynamics of neural circuits to the observed behaviors. We are also working towards extending our fiber-probe technology to the applications in the peripheral nervous system and the spinal cord, which demand high flexibility and extremely low dimensions. Specifically, we were the first lab to demonstrate simultaneous neural recording and optogenetic stimulation in a mouse spinal cord that enabled direct optical control of lower limb muscles (Adv. Funct. Mater. 2014; Sci. Adv. 2017). Most recently, we have extended our flexible fiber-based tools to manipulation and monitoring of the circuits in the enteric (gut) nervous system (bioRxiv 2020), paving way to understanding the communication between the gut and the brain and to developing early diagnostics and treatments for conditions ranging from obesity to Parkinson’s disease.

To advance the studies of chemical neurotransmission, we are combining fiber-based tools with principles of photopharmacology and electrochemistry to achieve spatiotemporally precise generation of neuro-active compounds within specific regions of the nervous system. For instance, photoswitchable compounds have been instrumental in studies of receptors in neurons, but their potential in linking receptor function to behavior was not realized due to lack of tools for simultaneous light and drug delivery in moving subjects. To facilitate applications of photopharmacology in systems neuroscience, we have demonstrated control of reward behaviors in mice using miniature polymer fibers integrating waveguides and microfluidics (bioRxiv 2020). Gaseous neurochemicals such as a secondary messenger nitric oxide (NO) present a greater challenge to delivery into the brain. Inspired by catalysis of a metabolite nitrite into NO by enzymes containing iron-sulfur clusters in their cores, we have designed electrocatalytic fibers comprising cathodes decorated with platinum doped Fe3S4 nanoclusters and platinum anodes in addition to microfluidic channels. The Fe3S4-Pt nanoclusters within the electrocatalytic fibers were able to catalyze the generation of NO from the sodium nitrite solutions delivered via the same devices. We have applied these fibers to locally generate NO and control NO-mediated neural signaling in vitro and in vivo, paving way for studies of the role of this gaseous messenger in synaptic plasticity and metabolism (Nat. Nanotechnol. 2020).

Area III: Contributions of peripheral organ signaling to brain function and behavior

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Neurological (e.g. Parkinson’s) and psychiatric conditions (e.g. mood disorders, social deficits) are often accompanied with comorbidities in the peripheral organ function suggesting a link between the neuronal and endocrine signaling in the periphery and brain dynamics and behavior. We apply our magnetic approaches and multifunctional devices to uncover the enigmatic brain-body circuits that underly the peripheral influences on high-level functions such as reward, affect, or decision making. For instance, using our microelectronic fibers deployed in the duodenum, we found that optically stimulating vagal afferents in the gut is sufficient to impart a reward phenotype (Nat. Biotech.) previously attributed to dopamine neuron signaling in the brain. Our current projects leverage the neurotechnologies developed in our group in fundamental studies of organ-brain interoception under physiological conditions and in models of Parkinson’s disease, Autism, and affective disorders.

Fiber-based Devices

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In addition to neural interrogation, we are interested in using fiber-based all-polymer devices as scaffolds for neural tissue engineering and as potential replacements to the injured organs. The versatility of the fiber drawing process allows us to investigate the surface polarity and topographic structure of polymer-based nerve guidance channels on the axonal growth. Furthermore, we can design the fiber-based scaffolds to incorporate neural recording and optical neuromodulation capabilities. The latter may enable us to investigate the role of neural excitation on the axonal growth within the topographically controlled environment. We have recently found that optical neural excitation increases axonal growth by 3-4 fold, and furthermore exerts a directional bias on the growth of unstimulated tissues (Sci. Rep. 2015). By combining this finding with the ability to optimize the scaffold geometry (Biomaterials 2016) and nutrient transport (Adv. Mater. 2019) we intend to control the formation of synaptic connections between the neurons trapped within our scaffolds and the neurons within the brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves.

With the goal of developing seamless interfaces between the prosthetic limbs and the injured nerves, we applied fiber fabrication to create light-weight fiber-based artificial muscles (Science 2019). These devices mimicking the structure of cucumber tendrils, are composed of bimorphs of an elastomer and a high-performance plastic with drastically different coefficients of thermal expansion that have been subjected to strains in excess of 700% to impart helical geometry. Upon an exposure to a moderate temperature increase (~10°C), these devices can respond with sub-second latencies lifting >600 times their weight.

Accessing the viscera: Technologies for interoception research

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A gut sense for a microbial pattern regulates feeding

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Multifunctional Neural Probes Enable Bidirectional Electrical, Optical, and Chemical Recording and Stimulation In Vivo

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetoelectric nanodiscs enable wireless transgene-free neuromodulation

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Polina Anikeeva named head of DMSE

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Polina Anikeeva PhD ’09, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor at MIT, has been named the new head of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), effective July 1.

“Professor Anikeeva’s passion and dedication as both a researcher and educator, as well as her impressive network of connections across the wider Institute, make her incredibly well suited to lead DMSE,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, chief innovation and strategy officer, dean of engineering, and Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

In addition to serving as a professor in DMSE, Anikeeva is a professor of brain and cognitive sciences, director of the K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center, a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and associate director of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics.

Anikeeva leads the MIT Bioelectronics Group, which focuses on developing magnetic and optoelectronic tools to study neural communication in health and disease. Her team applies magnetic nanomaterials and fiber-based devices to reveal physiological processes underlying brain-organ communication, with particular focus on gut-brain circuits. Their goal is to develop minimally invasive treatments for a range of neurological, psychiatric, and metabolic conditions.

Anikeeva’s research sits at the intersection of materials chemistry, electronics, and neurobiology. By bridging these disciplines, Anikeeva and her team are deepening our understanding and treatment of complex neurological disorders. Her approach has led to the creation of optoelectronic and magnetic devices that can record neural activity and stimulate neurons during behavioral studies.

Throughout her career, Anikeeva has been recognized with numerous awards for her groundbreaking research. Her honors include receiving an NSF CAREER Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, and the Pioneer Award from the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program. MIT Technology Review named her one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 and the Vilcek Foundation awarded her the Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science.

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MIT News McGovern Institute News

A multifunctional tool for cognitive neuroscience

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A team of researchers at MIT’s McGovern and Picower Institutes has advanced the clinical potential of a thin, flexible fiber designed to simultaneously monitor and manipulate neural activity at targeted sites in the brain. The collaborative team improved upon an earlier model of the multifunctional fiber, developed in the lab of McGovern Institute Associate Investigator Polina Anikeeva, to explore dynamic changes to neural signaling as large animals engage in a working memory task. The results appear Oct. 6 in Science Advances.

The new device, developed by Indie Garwood, who recently received her PhD in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, includes four microelectrodes for detecting neural activity and two microfluidic channels through which drugs can be delivered. This means scientists can deliver a drug that alters neural signaling within a particular part of the brain, then monitor the consequences for local brain activity. This technology was a collaborative effort between Anikeeva, who is also the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and a professor of brain and cognitive sciences, and Picower Institute Investigators Emery Brown and Earl Miller, who jointly supervised Garwood to develop a multifunctional neurotechnology for larger and translational animal models, which are necessary to investigate the neural circuits that underlie high-level cognitive functions. With further development and testing, similar devices might one day be deployed to diagnose or treat brain disorders in human patients.

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Fatigue-resistant hydrogel optical fibers enable peripheral nerve optogenetics during locomotion

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Soft optical fibers block pain while moving and stretching with the body

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Scientists have a new tool to precisely illuminate the roots of nerve pain.

Engineers at MIT have developed soft and implantable fibers that can deliver light to major nerves through the body. When these nerves are genetically manipulated to respond to light, the fibers can send pulses of light to the nerves to inhibit pain. The optical fibers are flexible and stretch with the body.

The new fibers are meant as an experimental tool that can be used by scientists to explore the causes and potential treatments for peripheral nerve disorders in animal models. Peripheral nerve pain can occur when nerves outside the brain and spinal cord are damaged, resulting in tingling, numbness, and pain in affected limbs. Peripheral neuropathy is estimated to affect more than 20 million people in the United States.

“Current devices used to study nerve disorders are made of stiff materials that constrain movement, so that we can’t really study spinal cord injury and recovery if pain is involved,” says Siyuan Rao, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who carried out part of the work as a postdoc at MIT. “Our fibers can adapt to natural motion and do their work while not limiting the motion of the subject. That can give us more precise information.”

“Now, people have a tool to study the diseases related to the peripheral nervous system, in very dynamic, natural, and unconstrained conditions,” adds Xinyue Liu PhD ’22, who is now an assistant professor at Michigan State University (MSU).

Details of their team’s new fibers are reported today (Nat. Methods) in a study appearing in Nature Methods. Rao’s and Liu’s MIT co-authors include Atharva Sahasrabudhe, a graduate student in chemistry; Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering; and Polina Anikeeva, professor of materials science and engineering, along with others at MSU, UMass-Amherst, Harvard Medical School, and the National Institutes of Health.

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Multifunctional fibers enable modulation of cortical and deep brain activity during cognitive behavior in macaques

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic robots walk, crawl, and swim

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

MIT scientists have developed tiny, soft-bodied robots that can be controlled with a weak magnet. The robots, formed from rubbery magnetic spirals, can be programmed to walk, crawl, swim — all in response to a simple, easy-to-apply magnetic field.

“This is the first time this has been done, to be able to control three-dimensional locomotion of robots with a one-dimensional magnetic field,” says Professor Polina Anikeeva, whose team published an open-access paper on the magnetic robots June 3 in the journal Advanced Materials. “And because they are predominantly composed of polymer and polymers are soft, you don’t need a very large magnetic field to activate them. It’s actually a really tiny magnetic field that drives these robots,” adds Anikeeva, who is a professor of materials science and engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, a McGovern Institute for Brain Research associate investigator, as well as the associate director of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics and director of MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center.

The new robots are well suited to transport cargo through confined spaces and their rubber bodies are gentle on fragile environments, opening the possibility that the technology could be developed for biomedical applications. Anikeeva and her team have made their robots millimeters long, but she says the same approach could be used to produce much smaller robots.

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Multifunctional microelectronic fibers enable wireless modulation of gut and brain neural circuits

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Unraveling connections between the brain and gut

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The brain and the digestive tract are in constant communication, relaying signals that help to control feeding and other behaviors. This extensive communication network also influences our mental state and has been implicated in many neurological disorders.

MIT engineers have designed a new technology for probing those connections. Using fibers embedded with a variety of sensors, as well as light sources for optogenetic stimulation, the researchers have shown that they can control neural circuits connecting the gut and the brain, in mice.

In a new study, the researchers demonstrated that they could induce feelings of fullness or reward-seeking behavior in mice by manipulating cells of the intestine. In future work, they hope to explore some of the correlations that have been observed between digestive health and neurological conditions such as autism and Parkinson’s disease.

“The exciting thing here is that we now have technology that can drive gut function and behaviors such as feeding. More importantly, we have the ability to start accessing the crosstalk between the gut and the brain with the millisecond precision of optogenetics, and we can do it in behaving animals,” says Polina Anikeeva, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences, director of the K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center, associate director of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics, and a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

Anikeeva is the senior author of the new study, which appears today in Nature Biotechnology. The paper’s lead authors are MIT graduate student Atharva Sahasrabudhe, Duke University postdoc Laura Rupprecht, MIT postdoc Sirma Orguc, and former MIT postdoc Tural Khudiyev.

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Magnetically Actuated Fiber‐Based Soft Robots

Sat, 03 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Modulating cell signalling in vivo with magnetic nanotransducers

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Generalized design principles for hydrodynamic electron transport in anisotropic metals

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetothermal Modulation of Calcium‐Dependent Nerve Growth

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Reprogramming brain immunosurveillance with engineered cytokines

Sat, 25 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Probing Neuro-Endocrine Interactions Through Remote Magnetothermal Adrenal Stimulation

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 04:52:56 +0000

Building a culture of responsible neurotech: Neuroethics as socio-technical challenges

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

New research center focused on brain-body relationship established at MIT

Wed, 25 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The inextricable link between our brains and our bodies has been gaining increasing recognition among researchers and clinicians over recent years. Studies have shown that the brain-body pathway is bidirectional — meaning that our mental state can influence our physical health and vice versa. But exactly how the two interact is less clear.

A new research center at MIT, funded by a $38 million gift to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research from philanthropist K. Lisa Yang, aims to unlock this mystery by creating and applying novel tools to explore the multidirectional, multilevel interplay between the brain and other body organ systems. This gift expands Yang’s exceptional philanthropic support of human health and basic science research at MIT over the past five years.

“Lisa Yang’s visionary gift enables MIT scientists and engineers to pioneer revolutionary technologies and undertake rigorous investigations into the brain’s complex relationship with other organ systems,” says MIT President L. Rafael Reif. “Lisa’s tremendous generosity empowers MIT scientists to make pivotal breakthroughs in brain and biomedical research and, collectively, improve human health on a grand scale.”

The K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center will be directed by Polina Anikeeva, professor of materials science and engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and an associate investigator at the McGovern Institute. The center will harness the power of MIT’s collaborative, interdisciplinary life sciences research and engineering community to focus on complex conditions and diseases affecting both the body and brain, with a goal of unearthing knowledge of biological mechanisms that will lead to promising therapeutic options.

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Is it neuroscience? Chemistry? Art? Wulff Lecture shows versatility, diversity in materials science

Fri, 13 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A pivotal moment in Polina Anikeeva’s career was when she looked at an MRI scan of Parkinson’s disease patient, about a decade ago.

Now professor of materials science and engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, Anikeeva had recently worked on optoelectronics, devices that can detect and control light, and her work was used to illuminate the quantum-dot displays on Samsung TVs. But Anikeeva’s research interests started to stray into biology and neuroscience, disciplines outside her immediate orbit.

“I wanted to apply my knowledge as a materials scientist and engineer to problems that were unsolved, to devices that didn’t exist,” said Anikeeva on April 22, while delivering the Department of Materials Science and Engineering’s twice-yearly Wulff Lecture.

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Changes in Brain Neuroimmunology Following Injury and Disease

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Probing carrier interactions using electron hydrodynamics

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Mesoscopic finite-size effects of unconventional electron transport in PdCoO2

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 15:03:05 +0000

Thermally Drawn Highly Conductive Fibers with Controlled Elasticity

Sat, 12 Mar 2022 15:46:21 +0000

The preference for sugar over sweetener depends on a gut sensor cell

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 17:03:30 +0000

Pioneer Award 2021

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Polina Anikeeva of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering won the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award on Oct. 6.

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Magnetothermal nanoparticle technology alleviates parkinsonian-like symptoms in mice

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Imaging phonon-mediated hydrodynamic flow in WTe2

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Capturing 3D atomic defects and phonon localization at the 2D heterostructure interface

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Generalized Design Principles for Hydrodynamic Electron Transport in Anisotropic Materials

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Modular Integration of Hydrogel Neural Interfaces

Sat, 28 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Electrochemical Modulation of Carbon Monoxide-Mediated Cell Signaling

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Influence of Magnetic Fields on Electrochemical Reactions of Redox Cofactor Solutions

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Finite-size effects of electron transport in PdCoO2

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Customizing Multifunctional Neural Interfaces through Thermal Drawing Process

Tue, 18 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Modular Integration of Hydrogel Neural Interfaces

Fri, 07 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Fiber-Based Electrochemical Biosensors for Monitoring pH and Transient Neurometabolic Lactate

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Direct Imaging and Electronic Structure Modulation of moiré Superlattices at the 2D/3D Interface

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Functional Skeletal Muscle Regeneration with Thermally Drawn Porous Fibers and Reprogrammed Muscle Progenitors for Volumetric Muscle Injury

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Controlling drug activity with light

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hormones and nutrients bind to receptors on cell surfaces by a lock-and-key mechanism that triggers intracellular events linked to that specific receptor. Drugs that mimic natural molecules are widely used to control these intracellular signaling mechanisms for therapy and in research.

In a recent publication, a team led by MIT Associate Professor Polina Anikeeva, a McGovern Institute for Brain Research Associate Investigator, and Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) Research Assistant Professor James Frank introduce a microfiber technology to deliver and activate a drug that can be induced to bind its receptor by exposure to light.

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Selectively Micro-Patternable Fibers via In-Fiber Photolithography

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Emerging Frontier of Peripheral Nerve and Organ Interfaces

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In vivo photopharmacology enabled by multifunctional fibers

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Electron hydrodynamics in anisotropic materials

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Remotely controlled proton generation for neuromodulation

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Mechanical Way to Stimulate Neurons

Sun, 19 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In addition to responding to electrical and chemical stimuli, many of the body’s neural cells can also respond to mechanical effects, such as pressure or vibration. But these responses have been more difficult for researchers to study, because there has been no easily controllable method for inducing such mechanical stimulation of the cells. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a new method for doing just that.

The finding might offer a step toward new kinds of therapeutic treatments, similar to electrically based neurostimulation that has been used to treat Parkinson’s disease and other conditions. Unlike those systems, which require an external wire connection, the new system would be completely contact-free after an initial injection of particles, and could be reactivated at will through an externally applied magnetic field.

The finding is reported in the journal ACS Nano, in a paper by former MIT postdoc Danijela Gregurec, Alexander Senko PhD ’19, Associate Professor Polina Anikeeva, and nine others at MIT, at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in Spain.

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Magnetothermal Multiplexing for Selective Remote Control of Cell Signaling

Fri, 10 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Gaseous Messenger Molecule

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Nitric oxide is an important signaling molecule in the body, with a role in building nervous system connections that contribute to learning and memory. It also functions as a messenger in the cardiovascular and immune systems.

But it has been difficult for researchers to study exactly what its role is in these systems and how it functions. Because it is a gas, there has been no practical way to direct it to specific individual cells in order to observe its effects. Now, a team of scientists and engineers at MIT and elsewhere has found a way of generating the gas at precisely targeted locations inside the body, potentially opening new lines of research on this essential molecule’s effects.

The findings are reported today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, in a paper by MIT professors Polina Anikeeva, Karthish Manthiram, and Yoel Fink; graduate student Jimin Park; postdoc Kyoungsuk Jin; and 10 others at MIT and in Taiwan, Japan, and Israel.

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In situ electrochemical generation of nitric oxide for neuronal modulation

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Applying support-vector machine learning algorithms toward predicting host-guest interactions with cucurbit[7]uril

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic Nanodiscs Enable Remote Magnetomechanical Neural Stimulation

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic Vortex Nanodiscs Enable Remote Magnetomechanical Neural Stimulation

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hormone Release

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Abnormal levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are linked to a variety of mental health disorders, including depression and PTSD. MIT researchers, including the Anikeeva group, have now devised a way to remotely control the release of these hormones from the adrenal gland using magnetic nanoparticles.

To achieve control over hormone release, Dekel Rosenfeld, an MIT-Technion postdoc in Professor Anikeeva’s group, has developed specialized magnetic nanoparticles that can be injected into the adrenal gland. When exposed to a weak magnetic field, the particles heat up slightly, activating heat-responsive channels that trigger hormone release. This technique can be used to stimulate an organ deep in the body with minimal invasiveness.

The researchers now plan to use this approach to study how hormone release affects PTSD and other disorders, and they say that eventually it could be adapted for treating such disorders. This method would offer a much less invasive alternative to potential treatments that involve implanting a medical device to electrically stimulate hormone release, which is not feasible in organs such as the adrenal glands that are soft and highly vascularized.

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Transgene-free remote magnetothermal regulation of adrenal hormones

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

MacVicar Fellows 2020

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations to Polina, who was named a 2020 MacVicar Fellow.

The MacVicar Fellowships are MIT’s highest teaching award, recognizing creativity and excellence in undergraduate education. The program was named after Margaret MacVicar, the first dean for undergraduate education and founder of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Nominations are made by departments and include letters of support from colleagues, students, and alumni. Fellows are appointed to 10-year terms in which they receive $10,000 per year of discretionary funds.

Professor Anikeeva is richly deserving of this honor; she is dedicated to Course 3 students, and they recognize how she believes in them, encourages them, and pushes them to do the best job possible. Students call her classes “incredibly hard” but fun and exciting at the same time. She is “the consummate scientist, splitting her time evenly between honing her craft, sharing knowledge with students and colleagues, and mentoring aspiring researchers,” wrote one. Other nomination letters recount Anikeeva’s passion and devotion to her work and students. Professor Anikeeva champions her students in faculty and committee meetings as well, advocating for their issues and best interests.

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A gut sensor for sugar preference

Sun, 08 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Polymer-fiber-coupled field-effect sensors for label-free deep brain recordings

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Voices in methods development

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Nonequilibrium phonon transport across nanoscale interfaces

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Digital Learning Awards

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Seven MIT educators, including DMSE lecturer Jessica Sandland and Professor Polina Anikeeva, have received awards this year for their significant digital learning innovations and their contributions to teaching and learning at MIT and around the world.

Professor Anikeeva and Jessica Sandland were both awarded the MITx Prize for Teaching and Learning in MOOCs (massive open online courses), which is given to educators who have developed MOOCs that share the best of MIT knowledge with learners around the world. They received this award for teaching 3.024x (Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of Materials). The course was praised for its global impact and the way it enhanced the residential experience.

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Remotely controlled chemomagnetic modulation of targeted neural circuits

Mon, 19 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Next-generation interfaces for studying neural function

Mon, 12 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Artificial Muscle

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Strain-programmable fiber-based artificial muscle

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Artificial Muscles

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

MIT researchers, including professors Polina Anikeeva, Yoel Fink, and Cem Tasan, have developed a new fiber-based system that could be used as artificial muscles for robots, prosthetic limbs, or other mechanical and biomedical applications. Inspired by cucumber plants, which use their tightly-coiled tendrils to pull the plants upwards, this system utilizes a heat-activated coiling-and-pulling mechanism. Two materials that have different rates of thermal expansion are joined, causing the resulting fiber to form a tight coil with a surprisingly strong pulling force when even a small increase in temperature is applied. This process of contracting and expanding was shown in testing to maintain its strength even after repeating 10,000 times.

These fibers can span a wide range of sizes, and can easily be manufactured in batches up to hundreds of meters long. They are extremely lightweight and can respond quickly. Such fibers could be useful as actuators in robotic arms, legs, or grippers, as well as in prosthetic limbs, although postdoc Mehmet Kanik says that the possibilities for materials of this type are virtually limitless.

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Scalable Fabrication of Porous Microchannel Nerve Guidance Scaffolds with Complex Geometries

Thu, 06 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Progress in neuromodulation of the brain; a role for magnetic nanoparticles?

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Flexible fiber-based optoelectronics for neural interfaces

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Optogenetic surface stimulation of the rat cervical spinal cord

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Optogenetic entrainment of neural oscillations with hybrid fiber probes

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Silicon biointerfaces for all scales

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Creating Functional Interfaces with Biological Circuits

Tue, 15 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Editorial overview: Neurotechnologies.

Thu, 10 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Visions for the Future of Neuroscience

Wed, 02 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Multifunctional fibers as tools for neuroscience and neuroengineering

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Roadmap on semiconductor--cell biointerfaces

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Vilcek Prize

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Polina Anikeeva has been awarded a 2018 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. Awarded annually by the Vilcek Foundation, the $50,000 prizes recognize younger immigrants who have demonstrated exceptional promise early in their careers.

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Practical methods for generating alternating magnetic fields for biomedical research

Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Flexible and stretchable nanowire-coated fibers for optoelectronic probing of spinal cord circuits

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

One-step optogenetics with multifunctional flexible polymer fibers

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Neural recording and modulation technologies

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetically actuated protease sensors for in vivo tumor profiling

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetogenetics: Problems on the back of an envelope

Thu, 08 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Ion-switchable quantum dot Forster resonance energy transfer rates in ratiometric potassium sensors

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Thermally drawn fibers as nerve guidance scaffolds

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

High-performance ferrite nanoparticles through nonaqueous redox phase tuning

Wed, 10 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Localized excitation of neural activity via rapid magnetothermal drug release

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Optogenetics unleashed

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Engineering intracellular biomineralization and biosensing by a magnetic protein

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Restoring the sense of touch

Fri, 16 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Remote-controlled mice

Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Remote Magnetothermal Disruption of Amyloid-β Aggregates

Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Targeted Magnetic Nanoparticles for Remote Magnetothermal Disruption of Amyloid-β Aggregates

Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Optogenetic control of nerve growth

Mon, 18 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Wireless magnetothermal deep brain stimulation

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Multifunctional fibers

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Multifunctional fibers for simultaneous optical, electrical and chemical interrogation of neural circuits in vivo

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Polymer fiber probes

Tue, 26 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Polymer fiber probes enable optical control of spinal cord and muscle function in vivo

Tue, 26 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Natural neural projection dynamics underlying social behavior

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Bioelectronic medicines: a research roadmap

Fri, 30 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetically multiplexed heating of single domain nanoparticles

Mon, 26 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Optogenetic brain interfaces

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Optical control of neuronal excitation and inhibition using a single opsin protein, ChR2

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Maximizing hysteretic losses in magnetic ferrite nanoparticles via model-driven synthesis and materials optimization

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Optical inhibition of motor nerve and muscle activity in vivo

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Photothermal genetic engineering

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Optetrode: a multichannel readout for optogenetic control in freely moving mice

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Morphology of contact printed colloidal quantum dots in organic semiconductor films: Implications for QD-LEDs

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Cholinergic interneurons control local circuit activity and cocaine conditioning

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Nanoscale morphology revealed at the interface between colloidal quantum dots and organic semiconductor films

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Measuring charge trap occupation and energy level in CdSe/ZnS quantum dots using a scanning tunneling microscope

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Efficient Förster energy transfer from phosphorescent organic molecules to J-aggregate thin films

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum dot light-emitting devices with electroluminescence tunable over the entire visible spectrum

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Contact printing of quantum dot light-emitting devices

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Electronic and excitonic processes in light-emitting devices based on organic materials and colloidal quantum dots

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Electroluminescence from a mixed red- green- blue colloidal quantum dot monolayer

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Color-saturated green-emitting QD-LEDs

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Photoluminescence of CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots enhanced by energy transfer from a phosphorescent donor

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Light amplification using inverted core/shell nanocrystals: towards lasing in the single-exciton regime

Thu, 29 Jul 2004 00:00:00 +0000