Time：9:30 am, July. 18th of 2016
Location：Academic Report Hall of Department of Biotechnology
Prof. Yong Wang, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Wang got his B.S. degree in Environmental Chemistry at Jilin University in 1995, and M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering in 1998 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He pursued his Ph.D. education in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, studying drug and gene delivery. After a two-year postdoctoral training, Dr. Wang took a faculty position at the University of Connecticut in August 2006. He received a CAREER Award and a CREATIV Award from NSF in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Dr. Wang was early promoted to tenured associate professor in August 2011. He moved to Penn State in January 2013 (with tenure) and was approved for promotion to Full Professor in May 2016. His research is to understand and apply the principles of biomolecular recognition to create programmable biomaterials for drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and clinical diagnosis. In recent years, he published a series of publication in famous scientific journals such as Nat. Biotechnol., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., J. Am. Chem. Soc., and Biomaterials.
Introduction:
Programmable Biomaterials for Protein Delivery Yong Wang, Professor of Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University. The human body is a multifunctional object whose functions can be precisely regulated in a dynamic but controllable manner. The fundamental question our lab is interested in is whether the human being can develop a material that can undergo multiple, dynamic and controllable changes under physiological conditions. To address this question, we have synthesized a series of hydrogels using nucleic acid aptamers that are single-stranded oligonucleotides with the ability to bind target molecules or cells with high affinities and specificities. We have further examined the properties of these hydrogels in controlling the release of protein drugs. Different from traditional hydrogels that are highly permeable, aptamer-functionalized hydrogels can stably sequester and retain soluble proteins. Importantly, rationally designed triggering molecules can regulate the functions of aptamers in molecular recognition for on-demand protein release from hydrogels at the right time and at the right amount. In addition to proteins, we have applied aptamers and triggering molecules to manipulate the binding states of living cells and found that cell catch and release can be programmed on the hydrogel surface. Therefore, our effort has led to a new paradigm in developing biomaterials that hold great potential of mimicking the functions of the human body for various biological and biomedical applications.
Contact：Prof. Lihua Zhang of group 1810（phone: 9720）