Nanoparticle Biosensors for Mapping Single‑Molecule Functions in Single Live Cells

Saturday, February 16, 2013
Room 206 (Hynes Convention Center)
X. Nancy Xu , Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
A very few of protein molecules can induce a cascade of vital cellular responses and lead to wide ranges of diseases, underscoring the importance of identification and characterization of single protein molecules and their functions in single live cells in real time.  Such studies can identify crucial biomarkers for better understanding of disease development and for effective disease diagnosis and treatment.  The studies can also depict the complex molecular machinery of protein functions and offer novel blueprints for design of bio-inspired smart devices and materials.  To these ends, we have developed several new ultrasensitive nanobiotechnologies, including far-field photostable-optical-nanoscopy (PHOTON), photostable single-molecule-nanoparticle-optical-biosensors (SMNOBS) and single nanoparticle spectroscopy for mapping of dynamic cascades of membrane transport and signaling transduction pathways of single live cells in real time at single molecule (SM) and nanometer (nm) resolutions.  We have demonstrated that these powerful new tools enable us to quantitatively image single molecules and study their functions in single live cells with superior temporal and spatial resolutions.  The updated research results and experimental designs will be discussed in this presentation.  The work is supported in part by NSF (CBET 0507036) and NIH (R01 GM0764401; 3R01 GM076440-04S1).