Research News
Mar 16, 2026
- Engineering
Graduate School of Engineering research makes cover of “Biomacromolecules”
A new paper titled “Molecular Permeability Behavior and Catalytic Effectiveness in Zwitterionic Polymer Hydrogel-Enzyme Hybrid Nanocarriers,” has been selected for the cover of the Biomacromolecules, published by the American Chemical Society.
The paper details the latest findings from a research group led by Professor Yan Xu of the Graduate School of Engineering at OMU and Professor Madoka Takai of the University of Tokyo.
In this study, the team utilized a "polymer hydrogel-enzyme hybrid nanocarrier"—a promising platform for next-generation enzyme reactors—to investigate how the internal environment of these nanocarriers influences molecular permeability and enzymatic reaction efficiency.
By uncovering behaviors at the nanoscale that were previously difficult to investigate, their findings are expected to provide design guidelines for creating industrial reactors capable of efficient molecular production, as well as high-performance drug delivery systems.
The cover artwork shows the nanocarrier. The center of the image shows enzyme molecules and the surrounding particles represent substrates and products moving in and out through the nanocarrier's mesh structure. This design makes enzymes more stable, controllable, and usable in real-world technologies.
Paper information
Journal: Biomacromolecules
Title: Molecular Permeability Behavior and Catalytic Effectiveness in Zwitterionic Polymer Hydrogel-Enzyme Hybrid Nanocarrier
DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.4c04309
Authors: Xuejin Huang, Jincai Li, Nattapong Chantipmanee, Yusuke Dote, Yan Xu, and Madoka Takai
URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.5c01738
Cover Image: https://pubs.acs.org/cms/10.1021/bomaf6.2026.27.issue-3/asset/bomaf6.2026.27.issue-3.xlargecover-2.jpg
Funding
This work was supported in part by MEXT KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A) "Cell-Free Molecular Systems" (Grant Number: JP21H05231), and JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Grant Number: JP24K03275), Scientific Research (A) (Grant Number: JP21H04640), and Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (Grant Number: JP23KF0274).
Reference
Yan Xu's Nanofluidics Lab
https://www.omu.ac.jp/eng/chemeng8e/
Contact
Yan Xu
Graduate School of Engineering
E-mail: xuy[at]omu.ac.jp
*Please change [at] to @.
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