TODAY: SPECIAL BIOPHYSICS SEMINAR, at 4pm in 32-144 (Tuesday Jan 6)

[Dana Bresee Keeth]

*forwarded message:


SPECIAL BIOPHYSICS SEMINAR
*
Tuesday Jan 6 at 4pm in 32-144*
*
*
Molecular recognition with nanoparticle conjugates for label-free in 
vivo sensing applications*
Markita del Carpio Landry

Strano Lab
Department of Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nanomaterials have distinct optical, chemical, and mechanical properties 
that make them useful for biomedical applications including the 
development of highly sensitive and specific sensors of biological 
activity. In particular, semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes 
(SWNT) are unique near-infrared emitters, making them well-suited for 
use as fluorescence-based optical sensors: SWNT exhibit an extraordinary 
quantum yield, have essentially infinite lifetimes, and emit in an 
optical window where tissues, cells, blood, and other biological samples 
are maximally transparent. We present several brief examples in which 
SWNT have been instrumental in advancing technologies at the interface 
of nanomaterial and molecular biosciences.

Innovative functionalization of SWNT with polymers can provide SWNT with 
novel functions for a variety of applications. For instance, our work 
has shown that we can impart sensing capabilities to SWNT such that the 
SWNT-polymer conjugate produces a signature optical signal in the 
presence of a specific analyte molecule such as vitamin B2. Further 
development of these optical sensors is promising for areas in need of 
sensors with high spatial and temporal resolution, such as label-free 
detection of proteins within a cell, point-of-care diagnostic tools, and 
nanoscale therapeutics. The immediate utility of our optical sensors is 
demonstrated by monitoring vitamin uptake into a living cell for over an 
hour. We also successfully utilize this platform to produce optical 
sensors for neurotransmitter detection and visualize this process of 
molecular recognition on the single-molecule scale. We further show the 
utility of SWNT-polymer conjugates in the scope of “plant nanobionics”: 
the detection of molecular pollutants inside living plants with a 
dual-wavelength ratiometric signal. Future work will focus on the 
real-time detection of protein expression, microbial infections, deep 
tissue imaging, and kinetics of protein misfolding.


-- 
*_Jeff Gore ___*/
/*Assistant Professor
Latham Family Career Development Professor**
Physics of Living Systems
*
*400 Technology Square, NE46-609 <http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=NE46>
*
*Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology *
Tel: (617) 715-4251 <tel:%28617%29%20715-4251>    |    Fax: (617) 
258-6883 <tel:%28617%29%20258-6883>
MIT.edu/faculty 
<http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/gore_jeff.html>  | 
GORELab.org <http://www.gorelab.org/>  | JGore.org <http://www.jgore.org/>

Biophysicist?  Join DBIO <http://www.aps.org/units/dbp/> and come to the 
APS March Meeting <http://www.aps.org/meetings/march/>!

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