Abstract
Natural layered, hierarchical assembled biomaterials have recently attracted a lot of attention and been inspired to design new biomimetic materials for potential applications. However, precise control of the relative position and molecular orientation is a current challenge in fabrication of artificial, functional hierarchical 2D/3D protein micro/nanostructures. New fabrication strategies based on sessile nanofluids on surfaces, and nanotopography-guided assembly were developed to produce collagen-based hierarchical 2D/3D structures. Hierarchical 2D/3D collagen assemblies fabricated using those two assembly techniques can be further characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) to reveal fine structures and orientation of protein hierarchical assemblies. Such protein hierarchical structures can serve as multiscale biointerfaces that are mimetic and compatible with the natural signaling protein clusters or assemblies for cell activation. Accumulating information from using collagen biointerfaces might decipher various biological processes that can regulate specific cell functions, further leading to practical consequences for controlling cell activation and differentiation of specific cells.
Jie-Ren Li, PhD
Department of Chemistry
National Cheng Kung University
Jie-Ren Li, PhD
Jie-Ren Li received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from National Chung Cheng University in 1998. Upon graduation, he went on to pursue a master’s degree in the department of Applied Chemistry from National Chiao Tung University in 2000. He started his academic journey in the United States in Fall 2004. He enrolled at Louisiana State University, where he pursued a doctoral degree in the field of analytical chemistry. His research interests included applications of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) for surface characterization, multiple fabrication processes of functional thin film nanostructures, and synthesis of various nanoparticles. Upon his doctoral degree from LSU, he joined the department of Chemistry at University of California at Davis as a postdoctoral scholar and an adjunct assistant engineer (Spectral Imaging Facility, NEAT-ORU, UC Davis) in 2009. His research focused on the development of atomic force microscope (AFM) combined with various optical analysis techniques, and design of artificial protein cluster arrays for receptor-mediated activation processes. He participated in regional, national, and international conferences, where he presented his research results. Jie-Ren also received several awards, including the Charles E. Coates Award, James W. Robinson Outstanding Research in Analytical Sciences Award, Pfizer Research Fellowship in Analytical Chemistry Award and ICAM Junior Scholar Award. In 2013, Jie-Ren started his research career in the Department of Chemistry at National Cheng Kung University. To date, more than 35 SCI papers have been published in international academic journals. His current research interests include the development of lithographic approaches to fabricate protein hierarchical structures for cell function regulations and application of AFM-based characterization.