Research
Nano-scale control of surfaces for protein and cell interfacing
Control of the cellular micro and nanoenvironment is very important for tissue engineering as well as in the design of systems allowing investigation of cellular functions like differentiation, morphogenesis, proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Recent results have shown cellular responses that both quantitatively and qualitatively vary from cell type to cell type for the same surface state. For all the nanofeatures considered, shape, order and symmetry of nanotopography have proven to be equally important. The subject is still young and while a convincing proof of principle is established in recent experiments many open questions remain concerning the cellular response mechanisms to nanostructures, in particular the discrimination between chemical and physical effects of nanoscale topography.
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Hybrid biomolecule-nanocluster systems for biosensing and bioelectronics
There are many methods to immobilize proteins onto a 2D (flat) or 3D (nanoparticle in solution) surface - from single step protein deposition and immobilization through hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions with the substrate, to multistep reactions involving covalent bonding of the protein to the surface, usually by a linking molecule. Recently bare metal nanoclusters deposited on solid substrates by physical techniques have been used in order to directly chemisorb proteins onto substrates [1]. In our Laboratory, pre-formed mass selected atomic clusters, in the size range 0.5 to 8 nm, can be deposited and assembled into novel types of nanostructures (from monolayers to chains and dots) with an unprecedented degree of control.
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Nano-scale probing of cellular membrane constituents and processes
Nanoparticle-biomolecule hybrid systems combine the unique electronic, photonic, magnetic and catalytic properties of nanoparticles (NPs) with the highly specific recognition and/or biocatalytic properties of biomolecules. Consequently such systems are particularly attractive for the development of novel biosensors, biofuel cells or may serve as templates for nanofabrication. Recently it has been demonstrated that the coupling of enzyme with metallic NPs dramatically enhance the electron transfer rate in electrochemical biosensors.
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Biological templates for nanofabrication
Nanoparticles for Electron Emission Tumor Treatment
Many different chemical and physical routes are currently followed of the treatment of tumor cells.
One such method is based on the natural emission of Auger electrons from radionuclides such as 123I, whereby one decay
releases about 15 electrons with an average energy of 7.5 keV. Disadvantages of this method are that i) only a limited number of discrete electron
energies are available through Auger emission; ii) a limited set of such radionuclides exist and iii) these materials are continuous emitters
(half-life 123I = 13.2h) and cause damage over their whole trajectory and lifetime.
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