NER: Dynamic Behavior of Ligand-Receptor Interactions in Living Cells on the Nanoscale

Illinois Institute Of Technology, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This research project, supported by the Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience, will be carried out by Dr. Rong Wang, Dr. Nickolas Menhart and their students at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The target of the research is to develop a novel approach that allows a real-time study of the dynamic behavior of individual ligand-receptor pairs (typical size of several nanometers) in the living cell environment. The essence of this approach is to guide the tip of the atomic force microscope (AFM) to desired receptor proteins regardless of the roughness and complexity on the cell membrane surface. Besides imaging of biomolecules at the submolecular level under physiological conditions, dynamic and kinetic processes of the biorecognition events can be clarified on the nanoscale. The research will involve novel experiments aimed at fundamental studies of single ligand-receptor interaction in the natural environment. This will provide the molecular basis for biological activities and molecular communications within cells. One of the promising applications is to elucidate a vaccine or drug target at the particular cell-surface protein in a diseased cell or an activator target in a growth cell. This revolutionary approach shows strong promise to elevate the development of the fundamental understanding of molecular functions in bioscience to an entirely new level, and will stimulate progress in the study of biological and biologically inspired systems in which nanostructures play an important role.