Current projects:

Biosensors

In collaboration with Professors Joseph Stetter and William Buttner from the Department of Chemistry, we are developing a multianalyte biosensor based on an array of 256x360 i mp edance sensors (more than 90,000 detectors in an area smaller than 2 cm 2). This array (IIT ChemArray) provides images where each pixel represents individual i mp edance measurements in the vicinity of a thin glass layer that separates the electrodes from the sa mp le being measured. By attaching antibodies to this glass surface, we can make this sensor specific for particular biological agents (proteins, viruses and bacteria) without the need of expensive and bulky instruments. By combining microfluidics technology, photolithography, surface chemistry, and multivariate analysis of data; this will be developed into a highly portable detector of biological agents. This system will be capable of detecting biological agents ranging from a few nanometers to a few microns. The applications of this device can enco mp ass biomedical assays, food safety, environmental monitoring, and homeland security among others.

Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Our group has an interest in the use of hydrogels for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and pharmaceutical engineering. We have developed a method for 2-D and 3-D patterning of hydrogels based on interfacial photopolymerization. This method allows varying the co mp osition in selective regions in 3-D for the creation of hydrogel systems having a co mp lex geometry on the microscopic scale. Currently, we are exploring this rapid prototyping method for tissue engineering applications in collaboration with Biomedical Engineering's Professor Eric Brey.

Our group is also involved in the synthesis of various hydrogel macromers with different functionalities such that they can be crosslinked, degradable, and/or thermoresponsive. We are also involved in the synthesis of poly(ethylene glycol) polymers with specific moieties that can interact with cell membrane lipid bilayers.

Metallic Nanoparticles

Metallic nanoparticles have interesting optical properties that make them attractive for a variety of applications. Their unique optical properties depend strongly on their morphology and degree of aggregation. Currently there is a strong interest in exploiting the dependence between aggregation and optical properties for a variety of colorimetric assays (detection of DNA hybridization, protein-ligand interactions, enzymatic activity, etc). However, their full potential has not been developed and they also have enormous potential in surface enhanced spectroscopy such as Raman scattering and Fluorescence. However, in order to fully exploit this potential it is necessary to tailor their surface properties so that specific molecules can be positioned at precise nanoscale distances and orientations on the particles. For this purpose, our group is exploring surface modification and stabilization methods for spherical and anisomeric (e.g.; nanorods) nanoparticles. With a proper understanding of the surface modification process of anisomeric nanoparticles a large number of technologies based on metallic nanoprobes can be developed for applications in analytical chemistry and biomedicine. Among our many developments in this area, we have created hybrid biopolymer-metal nanoparticle materials that can be used for sensing applications. We have also found that these hybrid materials, when grafted to surfaces provide a unique way to immobilize nanoparticles on surfaces while allowing the immobilized nanoparticles to retain their mobility. This is probably the first exa mp le demonstrating the potential to exploit aggregation-based assays using nanoparticles that retain their mobility in the immobilized state.

Kızılel, S.; Pérez-Luna, V.H.; Teymour, F. “Mathematical Model for Surface Initiated Photopolymerization of Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate”, Macromolecular Theory and Simulation (in review).

Aslan, K.; Pérez-Luna, V.H. “Nonradiative Interactions between Biotin Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles and Fluorophore-Labeled Antibiotin”, Plasmonics, (in press).

Kızılel, S.; Sawardecker, E.; Pérez-Luna, V.H.; Teymour, F. “Sequential Formation of Covalently Bonded Multilayers Through Surface Initiated Photopolymerization”, Biomaterials27, 1209-1215, (2006).

Lee, S.; Pérez-Luna, V.H.; “A Colloidal Gold-Dextran Hybrid Material for Biosensing Applications”, Anal. Chem. 77, 7204-7211, (2005).

Aslan, K.; Luhrs, C.C.; Perez-Luna, V.H. “Controlled and Reversible Aggregation of Biotinylated Gold Nanoparticles with Streptavidin”, J. Phys. Chem. B.108, 15631-15639, (2004).

Kızılel, S.; Perez-Luna, V.H., Teymour, F. “Photopolymerization of Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate on Eosin Functionalized Surfaces”, Langmuir, 20, 8652-8658, (2004).

Aslan, K.; Perez-Luna, V.H. “Quenched Emission of Fluorescence by Ligand Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles”, J. of Fluorescence14(4), 401-405, (2004).

Perez-Luna, V.H.; Kohn, J.; Graham, D.J.; Ratner, B.D. “Poly(Desaminotyrosyl-tyrosine Carbonate Ethyl Ester) Studied by XPS” 9, 6-11 Surf. Sci. Spectra (2002).

Aslan, K.; Perez-Luna, V.H. “Surface Modification of Colloidal Gold by Chemisorption of Alkanethiols in the Presence of a Nonionic Surfactant” Langmuir18, 6059-6065 (2002).

Chirakul, P.; Perez-Luna, V.H.; Owen, H.; Lopez, G.P.; Ha mp tom, P.D., “Synthesis and Characterization of Amine-Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers Containing Diethylene Glycol Linkages”, Langmuir18, 4324-4330, (2002).

Buranda T., Huang J., Perez-Luna V. H., Sklar L., and Lopez G. P., “Biomolecular Recognition on Well Characterized Beads Packed in Microfluidic Channels”, Anal. Chem.74, 1149-1156, (2002).

Pérez-Luna V. H., Yang S., Rabinovich E. M., Buranda T., Sklar L.A. and López G. P., “Fluorescence Biosensing Strategy Based on Energy Transfer Between Fluorescently-Labeled Receptors and a Metallic Surface”, Biosensors and Bioelectronics17, 71-78, (2002).

Ista, L.K., Mendez, S., Pérez-Luna, V.H. and López, G.P., “Synthesis of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) on Initiator-Modified Self-Assembled Monolayers”, Langmuir17, 2552-2555, (2001).

O'Brien M. J., Brueck S. R. J., Pérez-Luna V. H. and López G. P., "A Surface Plasmon Resonance Array Biosensor Based on Spectroscopic Imaging", Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 16, 97-108 (2001).

Fan H., Lu Y., Stu mp A., Reed S. T., Baer S. T., Schunk R., Perez-Luna V. H., López G. P. and Brinker C. J., " Rapid Prototyping of Patterned Functional Nanostructures", Nature, 405, 56-60, (2000).

Pérez-Luna V. H., O'Brien M. J., Opperman K. A., Ha mp ton P. D., Stayton P. S., Klumb L. and López G. P., "Molecular Recognition Between Genetically-Engineered Streptavidin and Surface-Bound Biotin ", J. Am. Chem. Soc.121, 6469-6478, (1999).

Ista L. K., Pérez-Luna V. H. and López G. P., “Surface Grafted, Environmentally Sensitive Polymers for Biofilm Release”, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65, 1603-1609, (1999).

O'Brien M. J., Brueck S.R.J., Pérez-Luna V. H., Tender L. M. and López G. P.,” SPR Biosensors: Simultaneously Removing Thermal and Bulk-Co mp osition Effects”, Biosensors & Bioelectronics14, 145-154 , (1999).

Jung L. S., Nelson K. E., Ca mp bell C. T., Stayton P. S., Yee S. S., Pérez-Luna V. H., and López G. P., "SPR Measurement of Binding and Dissociation of Wild-Type and Mutant Streptavidin on Mixed Biotin-Containing Alkylthiolate Monolayers", Sens. And Actuat. B-Chem, 54, 137-144, (1999).

Rabinovich E. M., O'Brien M. J., Brueck S. R., Yang S., Pérez-Luna V. H., and López G. P., "Co mp act phase-sensitive multichannel detection system with array measurements of biosensor chips", Proc. Of SPIE, 3926, 181-185, (1999).

Rabinovich E. M., O'Brien M. J., Ukhanov A. A., Jain R. K., Pérez-Luna V. H., and López G. P., "Fluorescence-lifetime-based phase-sensitive sensor array with LED or diode laser excitation for chemical- and biosensing", Proc. Of SPIE, 3570, 236-243, (1999).

O'Brien M. J., Pérez-Luna V. H., Tender L. M., Edmunds M., Brueck S. R. J., and López G. P, "Surface Plasmon Resonance Based Array Biosensors for Multianalyte Detection", Proc. Of SPIE, 3258, 29-39, (1998).

Rabinovich E. M., O'Brien M. J., Srinivasan B., Elliot S., Long X-C., Jain R. K., Pérez-Luna V. H., Zhou Y., Tender L. M. and López G. P, "A Co mp act LED-Based Phase Fluorimeter-Detection System for biological and Chemical Sensor Arrays", Proc. Of SPIE, 3258, 2-10, (1998).

Pérez-Luna V. H., Hooper K. A., Kohn J. and Ratner B. D., "Surface Characterization of Biodegradable Tyrosine-Derived Polycarbonates", J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 63, 1467-1479 (1997).

Favia Pietro, Pérez-Luna V. H., Boland T., Castner D. and Ratner B. D., "Chemical Co mp osition and Fibrinogen Adsorption-Retention Properties of RF Glow Discharge Deposited Fluoropolymer Films", Plasmas and Polymers, 1, 297-324 (1996).

Chilkoti A., Schmierer A. E., Pérez-Luna V. H. and Ratner B. D., "Investigating the Relationship Between Surface Chemistry and Endothelial Cell Growth: Partial Least Squares Regression of the Static Secondary Ion Mass Spectra of Oxygen-Containing Plasma-Deposited Films", Anal. Chem., 67, 2883-2891 (1995).

Pérez-Luna V. H., Ratner B. D. and Horbett T. A., "Developing Correlations between Fibrinogen Adsorption and Surface Properties using Multivariate Statistics", J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 28, 1111-1126 (1994).

Puig J. E., Pérez-Luna V. H., Pérez-González M., Macías E. R., Rodríguez B. E. and Kaler E. W., "Co mp arison of Oil-Soluble and Water-Soluble Initiation of Styrene Polymerization in a Three-Co mp onent Microemulsion", Colloid Polym. Sci., 271, 114-123 (1993).

Pérez-Luna V. H., Puig J. E., Castaño V. M., Rodríguez B. E., Murthy A. K. and Kaler E. W., "Styrene Polymerization in Three-Co mp onent Cationic Microemulsions", Langmuir, 6, 1040-1044 (1990). 

Book chapters

Yang S., Pérez-Luna V. H. and Gabriel P. López, “Two-dimensional patterning of proteins”, In: Protein Architecture: Interfacing Molecular Assemblies and Immobilization Biotechnology Y. Lvov and H. Mohwald, Eds., Marcel Dekker, Inc. (1999).

Pérez-Luna V. H., Aslan K. and Betala P., “Colloidal Gold”, In: Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. H. S. Nalwa, Ed., American Scientific Publishers, (2004).

Pérez-Luna V. H., “Surface Plasmon Resonance”, In: Surfaces and Interfaces for Biomaterials Pankaj Vadgama, Ed., Woodhead Publishing Ltd., (2005).