Time: June 5, 2014 9:00
Location: 1st floor meeting room of basic energy sciences building
Lecturer: Dr. Shengnian Wang
Institute for Micromanufacturing, Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science, Louisiana Tech University, USA
Abstract：
Engineering materials at micro/nanoscale provides a wealth of physical insights as well as new engineering breakthroughs in energy, sensing, and drug/gene delivery. Nanomaterials with composite structure and/or multiple functions are often favorable in many of these applications because of their appropriate niche on material property and functionality. My lab focuses on identifying new niches of nanomaterials in energy and life science applications. Two examples will be given in my talk: (1) develop new approaches to synthesize mesoporous zeolites and used them for biofuel upgrading; (2) design new gold nanoparticles-polyplex complex (AuNPs-polyplex) to enhance the direct-cytosolic delivery of genetic probes. In the first example, mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolites (MZSM-5) were synthesized through a new double-template approach and the produced MZSM-5 showed superior activity and selectivity on the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of model biofuel components. The good performance comes from their retention of strong acidity (from its ZSM-5 features) and allowance of efficient diffusion of large biofuel compounds. The risk of potential pore blocking and coking related catalyst deactivation is therefore significantly reduced. In the second example, polyplex were internalized through electroporating cells in a format of AuNPs-polyplex conjugates. Coating polyplex on the surface of AuNPs ensures the production of homogenous polyplex nanoparticles in size. Cationic polymers were fixed on AuNPs surface even after cellular uptake to lessen their cytotoxicity after polyplex dissociation. Electroporation helps introduce nanoparticles directly into the cell cytoplasm, avoiding slow and inefficient internalization routes like endocytosis. Both plasmid DNA and siRNA based AuNPs-polyplex were produced and tested on leukemia cells and a 1.5~2 folds enhancement on the transfection efficiency was found at no sacrifice of cell viability.
Introduction：
Dr. Shengnian Wang, is the Harrelson Family Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering, Institute of Micromanufacturing of Louisiana Tech University. He also has a joint appointment at the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science (CBERS).
Dr. Wang got his BS, MS, and PhD from Zhejiang University, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Ohio State University, respectively, all in Chemical Engineering. He had his post-doctoral training at the National Science Foundation Center for Affordable nanostructures of Polymeric Biomedical Nanodevices (CANPBND). His current research interests focus on designing and manufacturing nanomaterials for energy and biomedical applications, with current research projects supported by NIH, NSF, and State of Louisiana. He has published 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals including Advanced Materials, journal of the American Chemical Society, Analytical Chemistry, Physical Review Letters, Lab Chip, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Biomicrofluidics, Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, and so on. He gave 50+ presentations in various conferences and symposiums, including ten invited talks.
Dr. Wang is the PhD (micro/nano track) coordinator of the College of Engineering and Science. He is also the program chair of the Transport and Energy Process Division (TEP) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE).
Contacts：DNL0901 Zhang Chunxi（89052）