{"id":19,"date":"2016-03-26T14:12:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T14:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/?page_id=19"},"modified":"2021-01-01T15:56:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T19:56:40","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Overview: Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering<\/h3>\n

\"Picture3\"<\/a>Nucleic acids have been chosen as the chemical building blocks in the evolution of life. Inspired by Nature, DNA\/RNA nanotechnology emerges to allow precise spatial organization and dynamic control of information networks. \u00a0The programmability of sequence-specific self-assembly and innate biocompatibility have made it possible for these unique nanostructures and nanodevices to interact in biological matrices.\u00a0 Our\u00a0research group is interested in creating synthetic DNA- and RNA-based tools for analytical and biomedical applications. Our\u00a0research program integrates the disciplines of chemistry, bionanotechnology, cellular biology, and synthetic biology. \u00a0Our ultimate goal is to understand the fundamentals of life, and to construct artificial genetic devices and pathways.<\/p>\n

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<\/h3>\n

Primary Research Interests<\/h3>\n

(1) Biosensors and Bioimaging:<\/h4>\n

\"Spinach1\"Microscopy becomes a central tool to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of cellular components.\u00a0 Our research\u00a0focus is to engineer imaging probes to quantify and track the synthesis, function, and\u00a0degradation pathways of metabolites, signaling molecules, antibiotics, and other small molecules in live cells. \u00a0These imaging probes will be constructed based on our knowledge about conditional self-assembly\u00a0of nucleic acid nanostructures and integrated circuits.<\/p>\n

Ren (2020) JACS<\/em>, 142, 2968-2974;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Rigumula (2019) Angew Chem Int Ed<\/em>, 58, 18271-18275;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0You (2019) Cell Chem Biol<\/em>, 26, 471-481;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Karunanayake (2018) JACS<\/em>, 140, 8739-8745;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0You (2015) PNAS<\/em>, 112, E2756-E2765.<\/p>\n

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(2) Cell Membrane Biophysics:\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

We recently developed an efficient lipid-based approach to immobilize designer DNA probes outside of live cell membranes. \u00a0With this approach, we are developing novel DNA probes that can measure transient membrane lipid encounter events and other biophysical events at cell membranes, such as cellular mechanotransduction.<\/p>\n

Tian (2021) Chem Sci<\/em>, 12, in press;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Zhao (2020) Chem Sci<\/em>, 11, 8558-8566;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Bagheri (2019) Chem Sci<\/em>, 10, 11030-11040;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Zhao (2017) JACS<\/em>, 139, 18182-18185; \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 You (2017) Nat Nanotechnol<\/em>, 12, 453-459;<\/p>\n

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(3) DNA\/RNA Nanotechnology:<\/h4>\n

\"nl-2015-02502w_0005\"<\/p>\n

DNA\/RNA nanotechnology has succeeded\u00a0in\u00a0constructing precisely-defined<\/span>\u00a0nanostructures and nanodevices\u00a0in vitro<\/em>. \u00a0Nucleic acid tools are\u00a0great choice\u00a0to study biology, especially\u00a0considering their\u00a0programmability of sequence-specific self-assembly and innate biocompatibility. \u00a0Our\u00a0research focuses on the construction of genetically encoded RNA nanostructures in live cells. \u00a0We are interested in discovering novel molecular mechanisms for precise conditional self-assembly of these nucleic acid nanostructures.<\/p>\n

Han#, Wu#, You# (2015) Nat Chem<\/em>, 7, 835-841;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0You (2015) JACS<\/em>, 137, 667-674;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 You (2014) JACS<\/em>, 136, 1256-1259;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0You (2012) ACS Nano<\/em>, 6, 7935-7941.<\/p>\n

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(4) SELEX:<\/h4>\n

\"Picture1<\/h5>\n

Aptamer is\u00a0single-stranded DNA or RNA that can specifically recognize a target of interest. \u00a0Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) is a high-throughput technique to generate these functional nucleic acids. \u00a0Our research interest is to identify aptamers and catalytic RNAs\u00a0that function inside live cells. \u00a0These identified RNAs or\u00a0DNAs will be further applied\u00a0to construct artificial biological devices and pathways that does not exist in Nature.<\/p>\n

You (2011) Chem <\/i>Sci<\/i>, 2, 1003-1010;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Liu#, You# (2011) Curr Med Chem<\/em>, 18, 4117-4125.<\/p>\n

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(5) Photo-controlled Devices:<\/h4>\n

\"Picture2Light can be used to externally manipulate the functions of nanodevices with both spatial and temporal precision.\u00a0 The use of light to control intracellular structure and function of proteins is generally termed optogenetics<\/em>. \u00a0We are interested in developing\u00a0optogenetically controlled RNA devices by taking advantage of photoswitchable\u00a0chromophores.<\/p>\n

Ren (2020) Angew Chem Int Ed<\/em>, 59, 218986-21990;\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0You (2015) Ann NY <\/i>Acad<\/i> Sci<\/i>, 1352, 13-19;\u00a0 You (2012) Angew<\/i> Chem <\/i>Int<\/i> Ed<\/i>, 51, 2457-2460.<\/p>\n

<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overview: Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Nucleic acids have been chosen as the chemical building blocks in the evolution of life. Inspired by Nature, DNA\/RNA nanotechnology emerges to allow precise spatial organization and dynamic control of information networks. \u00a0The programmability …<\/p>\n

Research<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":132,"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1628,"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/1628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elements.chem.umass.edu\/youlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}