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Research
Translational
applications
Tissue Engineering and
Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative medicine holds great promise
in treating degenerative diseases by stimulating damaged tissues to repair
themselves, or replacing them with engineered tissues when the body cannot
heal itself. A fundamental understanding of the regulatory mechanisms in tissue
regeneration and the ability to modulate these processes, therefore, are
critical to the ultimate success of regenerative medicine. A central theme of this direction is to integrate
2D/3D tissue models, nanoengineered biosensors, microfluidics cultures, and
computational analysis toward systematic interrogation of complex
biological systems. Specific projects include:
- Mechanoregulation of collective cell migration
- Endothelial wound healing and angiogenesis
- Injury induced cancer metastasis
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Clinical Diagnostics
Rapid detection of pathogenic
agents is critical towards judicious management of infectious diseases,
such as urinary tract infection and sepsis, especially in emergency
situations and high-risk areas such as hospitals, airports, rural clinics,
and temporary clinics established in response to disasters. In settings where highly infectious
pathogens are suspected, point-of-care detection will lead to timely
initiation of appropriate treatments, which will reduce the infected
individuals’ morbidity and mortality, as well as address public health
concerns by efficient triaging of the uninfected from the infected. In this research direction, we design and
implement a microfluidic-based, point-of-care diagnostic system to address
the critical need of rapid identification and quantification of
uropathogens. Specific projects
include:
- Pathogen
identification for urinary tract infection and sepsis diagnosis
- Single cell
antimicrobial susceptibility testing
- Electrokinetic
sample preparation
Microfluidics
and Nanotechnology
Single cell gene expression analysis
The
systematic investigation of complex biological systems requires novel
biosensors for rapid quantification of the biological events. Currently, we are developing several
innovative molecular
schemes for detecting key signaling events (e.g., mRNA, miRNA, protein, and
transcription factors) by combining specific recognitions achieved by
innovative molecular designs and FRET/quenching transduction
mechanisms. The molecular biosensors
are capable of measuring real-time dynamics of cellular events quantitatively. Using these homogeneous biosensors, we
have demonstrated specific detection of single nucleotide mismatch,
real-time monitoring of intracellular mRNA hybridization, strain- specific detection of pathogen 16S rRNA,
and separation-free detection of transcription factors.
AC Electrokinetics
Electrokinetics
is the study of the motion of bulk fluids or selected objects (e.g., cells
and molecules) embedded in fluids when they are subjected to electric
fields. With the recent developments
in micro- and nanofabrication, electrokinetics provides effective
manipulation techniques in the micro and nano domains, which matches the
length scale of various biomolecules.
The ability to directly manipulate objects down to the molecular
level opens new avenues for developing the next generation cellular analysis
system. In
SBL, we have demonstrated an electrokinetic bioprocessor for mixing and
concentrating a large size range of biological objects, including bacteria,
double-stranded DNA, and single-stranded DNA fragments that have a radius
of gyration of ~3 nm.
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Plasma nanolithography
All
biological components in the
cellular environment have features that are ultimately in the nanometer scale
range. These components interact
with cells at all points in their lifecycle providing important clues for
cell behavior. Study of such
nanometer scale components is often hindered by technologies that are not
well suited for biologically compatible materials or for fabrication at
this scale. Methods to produce
nanopatterns typically rely on photolithographically patterned or
nanocontact printed surfaces. These
methods however are usually labor intensive, can require complicated
surface chemistries, may leave a topographical component, and are less
suited to biologically compatible materials, e.g. polymers. Plasma lithography provides a simple way
to pattern surfaces by allowing plasma to contact a surface in nanometer
sized regions while blocking plasma contact to other areas. This creates a chemical pattern on a
surface that can control cell behavior and be used to study the effects of
nanosized chemical patterns. This
method is inherently scalable and it can treat many kinds of surfaces such
as glasses and polymers as well as soft and nonplanar surfaces.
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SBL Facebook
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Education
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To introduce the general public
about the development of bio-nano-technologies, SBL will develop and maintain
a web-based tutorial and exhibits. Also
a download area is also available for downloading SBL materials for
education and classroom teaching purpose.
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Equipment & Software
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Overview of SBL equipment,
facilities, and software will be available soon.
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Opportunities
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We are looking
for talented undergraduates with a passion for research. Currently, we have
a few projects available. If interested in joining our lab, please contact Dr. Wong with: your
name, major, year, and resume.
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