Research Summary

My research goals combine the creation of a synthetic, engineered polymer substrate that allows dendritic cell (DC) binding and maintains DCs in an active state with an immunological study of DC response to pathogen exposure anchoring on nanometer to micron scale surfaces, thereby forming a sensitive, portable, accurate and rapid detection system for pathogens and biological warfare agents.

DC's are the immune system's pathogen sensor and are held in their active sensing state in the skin by the binding of adhesion receptors to receptors on keratinocyte cells. My research will seek to recreate this environment using an amphiphilic block copolymer micelle surface, which is treated with an aqueous base or salt solution that exposes the hydrophilic regions to allow functionalization with these keratinocyte cell receptors. The topology and chemical nature of this surface can be controlled by varying the molecular weight and composition of the block copolymer, allowing the study of how these factors impact DC response. A key area of focus will be the functionalization of the micelles with the cell receptor proteins, as proper binding to the DC must be obtained. Further surface manipulation could be used to create micron length scale features to accomplish several goals, such as introducing long range order into the micelle surface pattern as well as the ability to create microfluidic channels that would enable the device to rapidly analyze fluid samples. Once a surface that can effectively bind DCs is created, the differentiation of the DC response to specific pathogens and pathogen classes will be studied. Various detection systems could be used including chemical, optical or electrochemical means based on a detection of secreted products, changes in the intracellular environment or production of proteins.