Instructors: Nicholas Voelcker, Monash University; Jennifer Young, National University of Singapore; Ciro Chiappini, King’s College London; Roey Elnathan, Deakin University
High-aspect ratio nanomaterials (i.e. nanoneedles) are rapidly emerging as a transformative tool to interrogate and manipulate cells. They provide minimally-invasive approaches to sense the intracellular environment, stimulate and record cellular
electrical activity, target biophysical stimuli to intracellular compartments, and transport hard-to-deliver drugs. These technologies are rapidly transitioning from laboratory proof-of-principles to transformational approaches for cell and gene therapy,
spatial biology, and neural interfaces.
This tutorial represents an opportunity for early researchers and those interested in entering the field to form a robust critical understanding of the state of the art. This tutorial will cover the fundamentals of nanomaterials for cell manipulation,
and highlight their recent progress and applications. The learning objectives for the tutorial are:
LO1: Be able to describe nanoneedles and their key applications.
LO2: Be able to remember the approaches to nanoneedle fabrication and compare their features.
LO3: Be able to describe the biophysical interactions of nanoneedles.
LO4: Be able to describe the modalities of biosensing possible with nanoneedles.
LO5: Be able to describe the gene delivery approaches enabled by nanoneedles.
LO6: Be able to compare and contrast the performance of nanoneedles with alternative approaches.
Tutorial Schedule
1:30 PM
Nanofabrication for Cellular Nanoinjection
Roey Elnathan, Deakin University
2:15 PM
Principles of Cell Manipulation with High-Aspect Nanomaterials
Nicolas Voelcker, Monash University
3:00 PM BREAK
3:30 PM
Overview of the Mechanisms of Biophysical Interactions Between Nanomaterials and the Cell
Jennifer Young, National University of Singapore
4:15 PM
Introduction to High-Aspect Ratio Nanomaterials for Intracellular Biosensing
Ciro Chiappini, King's College London