2013.05.27下午报告会通知

题目：Positioning Proteins into Gels for Therapeutics and Diagnostics

报告人：Professor Zhen Gu (顾臻)

Department of Biomedical Engineering/ UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, USA

Abstract

Proteins are the engines of life, taking part in all vital processes in the body. From a therapeutic perspective, delivery of bioactive proteins to specific cells and organs is of tremendous interest in the fields of cancer therapy, vaccination, regenerative medicine and treatment for loss-of-function genetic diseases. From a diagnostic perspective, protein biochips with well-controlled micro or nano scale features hold great promise in drug screening, identification of protein-protein interactions, cell manipulation and cell separation. However, the successful application of the target protein always depends on the ability to effectively stabilize the functional component in what is often an unnatural environment while retaining its activity. Hydrogels or gels with porous and crosslinked networks can hold water and simulate natural environment for proteins. In this seminar, we will first discuss a unique nanogel-based strategy for intracellular delivery of various protein targets. The nanogels consist of a protein core and a thin cell-permeable polymeric shell that is capable of releasing the payload upon highly specific, biomimetic triggers. Next, I will present my recent work on engineering synthetic pancreas-like materials and devices for intelligent closed-loop delivery of insulin. Three distinct, biocompatible and injectable gels have been developed and their glucose-responsive properties have been validated. Finally, I will highlight two novel methods of forming protein micro- or nanopatterns onto gel substrates for diagnostics. “Magnetic electric lithography” can achieve both high resolution and high throughput to generate heterogeneous protein nanopatterns over a large area; while “enzyme-assisted photolithography” can simultaneously form topographical features and bioconjugation sites within gel scaffolds.

顾臻，博士，美国北卡大学教堂山分校医学院、药学院，北卡州立大学工学院联合生物医学工程系药学工程学科助理教授、博导。2003年毕业于南京大学化学化工学院化学系，同年保送至高分子科学与工程系学习，于2006年获得理学硕士学位。随后赴加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）学习，师从化学与生物分子工程系、加州纳米研究院（CNSI）Yi Tang教授，于2010年获得工程与应用科学学院工学博士学位。同年获聘于麻省理工学院化工系/Koch癌症复合研究中心、哈佛医学院及波士顿儿童医院，担任博士后研究员，师从药物传递、生物医学工程奠基人Robert Langer教授。2012年被聘为北卡大学新建药学工程学科第一位教授，建立“生物大分子诊疗工程实验室”。近年来在《Nature Nanotechnology》、《Angewandte Chemie》、《Nano Letters》、《ACS Nano》、《Advanced Materials》、《Biomaterials》、《Nano Today》及《Chemical Society Reviews》等著名刊物发表学术论文20余篇。同时申请国际专利3项、中国专利1项、美国专利6项，并积极开展成果转化。目前担任《中国医疗设备》海外编委及33种专业期刊特约评审。其研究方向包括纳米医药、药物控释器件、生物医用高分子材料、生命分析化学、再生医学工程等。此次报告，顾臻教授将介绍其在“细胞内抗癌蛋白质传递”、“智能闭路胰岛素控释体系”及“生物分子微纳尺度图案化”等前沿交叉领域所取得的多项创新性进展。 （详情见附件，顾臻教授课题组主页http://www.bme.unc.edu/labs/gulab/）