BMAT DMR 1322332 INSPIRE Programming Materials via Biomolecular

BMAT DMR 1322332 INSPIRE: Programming Materials via Biomolecular Engineering 2016 Yong Wang, Pennsylvania State University Park Nature and biology are used as fundamental design guidelines and the knowledge of multiple disciplines are intimately integrated to develop a novel biomaterial that can function as a small octopus does during its defense against predators. This biomaterial is developed for detecting or killing abnormal cells, or monitoring the behavior of the cells. The major work we finished last year was to demonstrate that a DNA-functionalized programmable surface can catch cancer cells, release anti-cancer drugs, and kill the cancer cells. Moreover, we use DNA as a synthetic molecule to synthesize nano-trees whose growth and shrinkage can be programmed for visualization of cells or cellular proteins. This programmable nanomaterials hold great potential for molecular diagnosis and drug delivery. A) Photos of Drosera before and after the prey catch. B) Schematic illustration of preparing the bilayer hydrogel using DNA (ID 1 and ID 2). C) Schematic illustration of cell catch and drug release for killing target cells on the hydrogel.

BMAT DMR 1322332 INSPIRE: Programming Materials via Biomolecular Engineering 2016 Yong Wang, Pennsylvania State University Park An interdisciplinary research team has been established with two female Ph. D students and two undergraduate students including a minority student. Our work has been disseminated internationally through three invited presentations and three published papers: • • • Molecularly regulated reversible DNA polymerization (Hot Paper) Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2016, 55 (23) 6657 -6661. A Drosera-bioinspired hydrogel for catching and killing cancer cells. Scientific Reports. 2015, 5, 14297. Regulation of Fibrin-Mediated Tumor Cell Adhesion to the Endothelium using Anti. Thrombin Aptamer. Experimental Cell Research. 2015, 339(2), 417 -426. Dr. Wang gave an invited talk at Soochow University to present the work about programmable biomaterials.