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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Prof. Chad Mirkin, Northwestern University
The Polyvalent Oligonucleotide Nanoparticle Conjugate: A New Frontier in In Vitro Diagnostics and Intracellular Gene Regulation
Over the past decade, we have developed methods for modifying nanoparticles with oligonucleotides and explored how they can be used as designer constructs for preparing highly ordered, highly functional materials. Over the course of these studies, we have discovered many unusual fundamental properties that make these materials particularly useful in biodiagnostics and intracellular gene regulation. This seminar will focus on the rules that govern the use of these conjugates and sequence specific crystallization, high selectivity and sensitivitynucleic acid and protein detection, and "antisense" therapy. Specifically, we will introduce the concept of the "antisense particle", as well as similarly functionalized siRNA particles, which exhibit a range of unique properties that make them very well-suited for gene regulation. In particular, the particles are highly resistant to nuclease digestion, have high and tailorable binding constants for target mRNA, and exhibit high entry efficiency into multiple cell types. Further, we can tailor the chemistry on the nanoparticle surface, and thus control the particles' binding strength to complementary target sequences, ultimately demonstrating that changing the binding strength or surface chemistries offers a means to control the degree of protein expression.
For more information contact Dr. Nils Kröger (404-894-4228).
