In This Series

1. [Illinois] Bionanotechnology Seminar Series Fall 2012: The value of an international research experience and how it can change your approach to research

   26 Nov 2012 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Heather Huntsman, Samantha Knoll

   Oct. 9, 2012Heather and Samantha spent part of Summer 2012 at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.This series is organized by PhD students who are appointed as Trainees in the NIH/NCI Midwest Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center (M-CNTC) and in the NSF IGERT in Cellular and Molecular Mechanics...

2. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Fall 2012: Label-Free Electronic Detection of Cancer Biomarkers Using Silicon Nanowire Arrays

   18 Dec 2012 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Brian Dorvel

   Improving the performance and lowering the analyte detection limits of optical and electronic biosensors is essential for advancing wide ranging applications in diagnostics and drug discovery. One of these diagnostic platforms, based upon microfluidics coupled to ion-selective field effect...

3. [Illinois] Bionanotechnology Seminar Series Fall 2012: Mechanical Property Characterization for 3D Collagen Cancer Cell Cultures

   08 Mar 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Yue Wang

   The tumor microenvironment is mechanically modified during cancer progression. Imaging of tumor mechanical environment will provide new information for early cancer diagnosis. However, it is less clear how the mechanical environment is tuned in cancer. The goal of this study is to understand more...

4. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Spring 2013: Using Primary Cells for Bioengineering

   14 May 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Mahendra S. Rao

5. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Spring 2012: Cationic, Helical Polypeptide Based Gene Delivery for IMR90 Fibroblasts and Human Embryonic Stem Cells

   13 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Jonathan Yen

   New diblock copolymers consisting of poly(ethyleneglycol)-block-poly(?-(4-(piperidin-1-yl)ethanaminomethylbenzyl)-L-glutamate), PEG-b-PVBLG-8 were synthesized for the effective transfection of hard to transfect cells like IMR90, human fetal lung fibroblasts and human embryonic stem cells (hESC)....

6. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Spring 2012: Fabrication and Characterization of Multi-Compartment Collagen-Glycosaminoglycan Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

   13 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Daniel Weisgerber

   We are working to create multi-compartment scaffolds as regenerative templates for multi-tissue interfaces such as the tendon to bone junction (TBJ). Collagen-glycosaminoglycan (CG) scaffolds have previously been successfully employed in a variety of soft tissue regeneration applications....

7. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Spring 2012: CYP17A1: Gatekeeper to Androgen Biosynthesis

   13 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Michael Gregory

   Human Cytochrome P45017A1 (CYP17) catalyzes the 17 alpha-hydroxylation of pregnenolone and progesterone as well as the subsequent 17,20 carbon-carbon lyase chemistry of its hydroxylated products. CYP17 function plays a central role in human steroid hormone biosynthesis, and its activity is...

8. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Spring 2012: Human Colon Carcinoma Cells on Gels: Spatial Confinement and Mechanosensing

   13 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Muhammad Yakut Ali

   New Mounting experimental evidences suggest that cells can sense and respond to mechanical cues (i.e. substrate stiffness) and geometric cues in 2D and 3D culture models. Hence, engineered mechanical microenvironment can enable new in vitro mechano-biology studies, which are otherwise complicated...

9. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Spring 2012: Nanostructured Surface for Enhanced Fluorescence Cell Imaging

   13 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Austin Hsiao

   We have created a nanostructure substrate on which three-dimensional confocal fluorescence cell-imaging sensitivity is amplified for cell membrane and cytoplasm. The nanostructure substrate was fabricated using a plasma etching technique to create a randomized array of nano-pillars. Confocal...

10. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Fall 2011: Pluripotency and Directed Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

    14 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Fei Wang

    Our long-term goal is to define new conditions and molecular programs that govern fate decisions of human pluripotent stem cells such as human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The knowledge is essential if we are ultimately to use these cells for...

11. [Illinois] BioNanotechnology Seminar Series Fall 2011: Bio-inspired Microenvironments Regulate Cell Fate

    14 Jun 2013 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Adam Engler

    Epigenetic regulation of stem cell fate by intrinsic properties of the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM), e.g. stiffness, organization, composition, etc., appears to be an important yet underappreciated contributor in development, disease, and aging. I will describe our efforts to develop...

12. [Illinois] NanoSTRuCT K-12: Nanoscale Science and Technology Resources for Community Teaching in K-12

    27 Jan 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Alexander Cerjanic, Brittany Renee Weida

    NanoSTRuCT is a student-organized project to develop and refine activities for bringing nanoscale science to community classrooms. As a student-led project, students and trainees have begun to lay the foundation for an ongoing and sustainable project including planning, resource development, and...

13. [Illinois] Microreactors and Click Chemistry for Synthesis of Molecular Imaging Probes

    04 Feb 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Joseph Whittenberg

    Gold nanorods are being studied within biological systems for applications such as drug delivery, imaging, Molecular  imaging  probes play a pivotal role in detecting and staging cancer, and enable physicians to effectively plan treatments for cancer...

14. [Illinois] Peptide Release from the Cells of the Dorsal Root Ganglion upon Application of Tensile Strain

    04 Feb 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Emily Tillmaand

    Morphological and electrophysiological studies have shown that neurons respond to specific mechanical environments. However, studies linking specific neuropeptide release based on changes in the mechanical environment are lacking. To further study the effect of mechanical stress on the cells of...

15. [Illinois] Breaking Collagen: Regulating In Vitro HepG2 Malignancy and Radiosensitivity with Selective MMP Degradation of Collagen-PEG Hydrogels

    04 Feb 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Nick Clay

    In vitro three dimensional (3D) tumor models are important tools for understanding cancer progression and evaluating new cancer treatments on a benchtop scale.  Countless in vivo studies have demonstrated that cancer malignancy is based on extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. However, few...

16. [Illinois] Computational Design and Analysis of Biomechanical Systems

    05 Mar 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Dan Perlitz

    There have been a large number of recent advancements in the design and manufacturing of biological machines commonly called "bio-bots." These machines, powered by cells, could be used for in vivo drug delivery or sensing of a biological toxin. Researchers can also use these...

17. [Illinois] Intravoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) for Quantification of Microcirculatory Flow

    05 Mar 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Alex Cerjanic

    Diffusion weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DW-MRI) is an increasingly popular tool used to probe the microscopic structure of materials and biological tissues. Most studies employing DW-MRI rely on the passive diffusion of water molecules to interrogate the structure of the object or tissue...

18. [Illinois] Synergistic Assembly of All-carbon Nanoscopic p/n Junctions

    13 Mar 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Vincent C. Tung

    All-carbon based photovoltaics comprised of n-type fullerenes and p-type single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are tantalizing candidates for light-harvesting and storage because of the advantageous carrier transport properties and improved mechanical/chemical stability. However, fullerenes...

19. [Illinois] Biomaterials to Replicate the Form and Function of Inhomogeneous Structures in the Body

    28 Apr 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Brendan Harley

    The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex organization of structural proteins such as collagens and proteoglycans. Understanding that the ECM is dynamic and often spatially patterned or heterogeneous over the length-scale of traditional biomaterials, we are developing instructive biomaterials...

20. [Illinois] Translational Nanomedicines Using Biomedical Nanomaterials

    02 Aug 2014 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Sei Kwang Hahn

    Nano-medicine is the term for the use of advanced bio- and nano-technologies for the development of medicines. In this seminar, smart translational nanomedicines using biomedical nanomaterials will be presented for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. The first part will cover...