Student Hosted Colloquia Kick-Off: Professor Bianxiao Cui
Student Hosted Colloquia Kick-Off: Professor Bianxiao Cui, Stanford University, Braun Auditorium, 4:30pm (Host: Sarah Noll)
About the Seminar: The rapidly evolving field of nanotechnology creates new frontiers for biological sciences. Recently, we and other groups show that vertical nanopillars protruding from a flat surface support cell survival and can be used as subcellular sensors to probe biological processes in live cells. In particular, we focus on developing nanopillar as electric sensor, optical sensors and structural probes. As an electrode sensor, nanoelectrodes offer several advantages such as high sensitivity, subcellular spatial resolution, and precise control of the sensor geometry. We found that the 3D topology of nanopillars is crucial for its enhanced signal detection. The high membrane curvature induced by vertical nanopillars significantly affects the distribution of curvature-sensitive proteins and stimulates several cellular processes in live cells. Our studies show a strong interplay between biological cells and nano-sized sensors, which is an essential consideration for future development of interfacing devices.
References1. Hanson L, Zhao W, Lou HY, Lin ZL, Lee SW, Chowdary P, Cui Y, Cui B, Vertical nanopillars for in situ probing of nuclear mechanics in adherent cells, Nature Nanotechnology, 10, 554-562, (2015).2. Lin ZL, Xie C, Osakada Y, Cui Y, Cui B, Iridium Oxide Nanotube Electrodes for Intracellular Measurement of Action Potentials, Nature Communications, 5, 3206 (2014).3. Xie C, Lin ZL, Hanson L, Cui Y, Cui B, Intracellular recording of action potentials by nanopillar electroporation, Nature Nanotechnology, 7, 185-190 (2012).4. Hanson L, Lin ZL, Xie C, Cui Y, Cui B, Characterization of the Cell-Nanopillar Interface by Transmission Electron Microscopy, Nano Letters, 12, 5815-5820 (2012).
About the Speaker: Bianxiao Cui is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago under the supervision of Stuart Rice. Her Ph.D. research concerns the understanding of dynamic heterogeneity and phase transition in two-dimensional colloidal liquid. After completing Ph.D., she ventured into the field of biophysical chemistry and worked as a postdoctoral scholar with Steven Chu on single molecule imaging of nerve growth factor transport. She joined the faculty of Stanford University, Department of Chemistry in 2008. Her research focuses on developing chemical and physical tools to measure and probe biological processes in the complex environment of living cells. In particular, she pioneered single molecule measurements of molecular motor coordination in the axonal transport process and the development of nanoscale electrodes for sensitive electrophysiology measurement in neurons and cardiomyocytes. She is also interested in understanding the interface between biological cells and synthetic materials using a variety of methods such as transmission electron microscopy, focused-ion beam milling, and super resolution fluorescence imaging methods. Her experimental approaches integrate physical chemistry, material science, nanotechnology, and engineering. She is a member of ACS, BPS, and ASCB, and served as a chair for the nanoscale biophysics subgroup. Her recent awards and distinctions include NIH New Innovator Award, NSF CAREER award, NSF Inspire award, Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering, Hellman Scholar, Searle Scholar Award and Dreyfus New Faculty award.