Dai-Wen Pang, Ph.D.

Recently, National Science Review published the research work on the synthesis of quantum dots (QDs) in the nucleus of live cells by Dr. Hu Yusi, Associate Professor Wang Zhi-Gang, and Professor Pang Dai-Wen from Nankai University.

During the study of QDs synthesis in mammalian cells, it was found that the treatment with glutathione (GSH) enhanced the cell’s reducing capacity. The generated QDs were not uniformly distributed within the cell but concentrated in a specific area. Through a series of experiments, it was confirmed that this area is indeed the cell nucleus (as shown in the figure). Dr. Hu said, “This is truly amazing, almost unbelievable… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the election of Dai-Wen Pang, Ph.D., to its College of Fellows. Dr. Pang was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to the development of quantum dot-based methodologies for single-virus tracking.

The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers in the country. The most accomplished and distinguished engineering and medical school chairs, research directors, professors, innovators, and successful entrepreneurs comprise the College of Fellows. AIMBE Fellows are regularly recognized for their contributions in teaching, research, and innovation. AIMBE Fellows have been awarded the Nobel Prize, the Presidential Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Technology and Innovation and many also are members of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences… Continue reading.

Quantum dots (QDs) possess optical properties of superbright fluorescence, excellent photostability, narrow emission spectra, and optional colors. Labeled with QDs, single molecules/viruses can be rapidly and continuously imaged for a long time, providing more detailed information than when labeled with other fluorophores. While they are widely used to label proteins in single-molecule-tracking studies, QDs have rarely been used to study virus infection, mainly due to a lack of accepted labeling strategies. Here, we report a general method to mildly and readily label enveloped viruses with QDs. Lipid-biotin conjugates were used to recognize and mark viral lipid membranes, and streptavidin-QD conjugates were used to light them up. Such a method allowed enveloped viruses to be labeled in 2 h with specificity and efficiency up to 99% and 98%, respectively. The intact morphology and the native infectivity of viruses were preserved. With the aid of this QD labeling method, we lit wild-type and mutant Japanese encephalitis viruses up, tracked their infection in living Vero cells, and found that H144A and Q258A substitutions in the envelope protein did not affect the virus intracellular trafficking. The lipid-specific QD labeling method described in this study provides a handy and practical tool to readily “see” the viruses and follow their infection, facilitating the widespread use of single-virus tracking and the uncovering of complex infection mechanisms… Continue reading.

A spectrally combined encoding strategy was proposed for multiplex biomarker profiling of heterogeneous circulating tumor cells (CTCs) using a multifunctional nanosphere-mediated microfluidic platform. Different cellular biomarkers simultaneously encoded with both magnetic tags and distinct optical signatures, enabled efficient isolation and in situ on-chip spectrally combined encoding of heterogeneous CTCs at single-cell resolution… Continue reading.