Nanofabrication and characterization platform for novel bioNEMS architectures

生物电工仪器是一个快速发展的跨学科研究和创新领域。将蛋白质和其他生物功能分子与固态电子器件相结合的新兴技术有望给生物诊断、生物医学仪器、生物工程和生物电子学带来革命性的变化，并进一步推动结构分子生物学、生物化学、生物物理学和生物信息学的基础研究。集成生物纳米机电系统(BioNEMS)对21世纪社会的影响被预测为可与20世纪集成电路的影响相媲美。我的研究计划的目标是开发一种新型的纳米制造和表征平台，用于将蛋白质分子和人造膜组件与已组装的固态结构和器件相结合的集成生物MEMS结构。我的活动将包括制造生物兼容芯片，这种芯片将携带具有嵌入或锚定蛋白质分子的支撑或系留的脂膜；设计芯片架构，允许使用局部表面等离子共振(LSPR)、表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)和太赫兹频率传感进行无标记表征；以及尝试将光谱表征与生物分子的可寻址电子操作相结合。这些活动将建立在阿尔伯塔大学电气和计算机工程系独特的纳米制造基础设施和NRC国家纳米技术研究所在化学分析、分子生物学和普通生物化学方面的互补能力。我还将依靠我的其他项目的成果，包括光刻纳米制造的高端工艺，以及在理解蛋白质构象和脂膜形态组织的数值模拟方面的突破。这项研究的实施将为下一代生物NEMS提供强大的增强能力，以监测和指导生物聚合物中的分子间结合、构象变化和信号转导。

Instrumentation for bioelectrical engineering is a rapidly advancing interdisciplinary field of research and innovation. New emerging technologies integrating proteins and other biologically functional molecules with solid state electronic devices are expected to revolutionize biodiagnostics, biomedical instrumentation, bioengineering, and bioelectronics, as well as empower further basic research in structural molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and bioinformatics. The impact of integrated bio-nanoelectromechanical systems (bioNEMS) on the society of the 21st century has been predicted to be comparable with that of integrated circuits in the 20th. The objective of my research program is to develop a novel nanofabrication and characterization platform for integrated bio-MEMS architectures coupling proteins molecules and artificial membrane assemblies with fabricated solid state structures and devices. My activities will comprise fabrication of biocompatible chips that will carry supported or tethered lipid membranes with embedded or anchored protein molecules; design of chip architectures allowing for label-free characterization employing localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and terahertz frequency sensing; as well as attempts to combine the spectroscopy characterization with addressable electrical manipulation of biomolecules. These activities will build upon the unique nanofabrication infrastructure at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Alberta and the complementary capabilities in chemical analysis, molecular biology, and general biochemistry at the NRC National Institute for Nanotechnology. I will also rely on achievements of my other projects, including high-end processes of lithographic nanonabrication, as well as on breakthroughs in understanding and numerical modeling of protein conformations and morphological organization of lipid membranes. Implementation of this research would provide next-generation bioNEMS with a powerfully enhanced capacity to monitor and direct intermolecular binding, conformational changes, and signal transduction in biopolymers.