Nanoseminar: Dr. Chang Lu, Purdue Dept. of ABE, School of

Purdue University

When heterogeneous cell populations, like those derived from primary material, are studied, most sample preparation methods often call for both genetic and protein content to be averaged over the tissue sample material. However, it is always beneficial to obtain information of singe cells to prevent cell subsets and vital processes from being overlooked. For example, when cells show an all-or-none response to a particular stimulus (bistability), bulk analysis yields only the average and does not recognize such characteristics. Micro-fluidic devices offer new possibilities for analyzing and manipulating cells at single cell level due to their micro-scale dimensions. In this seminar, I will discuss some micro-fluidics-based techniques developed in my lab for electro-poration and electro-fusion of mammalian cells at single cell level. We applied these techniques to delivery of impermeant molecules and nucleic acids into cells. We also designed a simple micro-fluidic system, which carried out rapid electrical lysis and chemical analysis of single cells at a maximum rate of 75-85 cells/minute. Using similar approach, we were able to carry out electro-fusion of cells at single pair level. These new tools have the potential for applications ranging from drug/gene screening, single cell proteomics, anti-body production, cloning mammals to cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Chang Lu joined Purdue University in the fall of 2004 as an assistant professor in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, with courtesy appointments in Chemical Engineering and in Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering (LORRE). Dr. Lu obtained his B.S. in Chemistry with honors from Peking University in 1998, M.S. and PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2001 and 2002, respectively, from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During 2002-2004, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics and the Nano-biotechnology Center (NBTC) at Cornell University. He is the author of 17 peer-reviewed journal papers and has 2 US patents pending. His research group is currently interested in the processing and analysis of single cells and single molecules using micro/nanofluidics and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Host: Rashid Bashir Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, (66229, bashir@purdue.edu)

SPONSORED BY:
Birck Nanotechnology Center, Bindley Bioscience Center, Discovery Park, The NASA Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing, The Network for Computational Nanotechnology, VEECO, NCN Student Leadership Council, Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics, School of Chemical Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering