In this talk, I will report on the research discovery and translational progress of the cell membrane coating nanotechnology. By cloaking synthetic nanoparticle cores with the natural plasma membranes of human cells (e.g., RBC, platelet, WBC, cancer cell, etc), the resulting cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (denoted “CNPs”) are demonstrated to possess many surface functions of natural cells. These biological functions include the evasion of the immune system, specific binding with target tissues or cells, and specific interaction with harmful biological agents such as bacterial toxins and viruses.
Such multifaceted, cell-mimicking interfacial properties are attributed to the presence of cell membrane on nanoparticle surface, which contain a myriad of membrane proteins, lipids, and their associated functions. Besides the use of wild-type cell membranes, CNPs can also be fabricated using genetically engineered cell membranes. By expressing desirable functional proteins on the plasma membrane of source cells, the resulting CNPs can achieve a wide range of drug delivery and therapeutic goals.
Dr. Liangfang Zhang is Joan and Irwin Jacobs Chancellor Professor and Chair of the Department of Nano and Chemical Engineering at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Zhang received his B.E. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University, and his Ph.D. in chemical & biomolecular engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006 under the supervision of Prof. Steve Granick. He was a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Prof. Robert Langer at MIT during 2006-2008.
He joined the Department of Nanoengineering at UC San Diego as an assistant professor in 2008 and was promoted to professor in 2014. His research aims to create cutting-edge biomimetic nanotechnologies and exploit them for various biomedical applications with a particular focus on biomimetic nanodelivery and biological neutralization.
He has published 280 peer- reviewed articles and was among the Clarivate Analytics list of “Highly Cited Researcher” during 2017- 2023. He is an inventor of 120 patents and patent applications worldwide. Professionally, Dr. Zhang was elected to the Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2015, the Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2018, and the Fellows of National Academy of Inventors (NAI) in 2020. http: //nano.ucsd.edu/~l7zhang