(609h) A Multifunctional DNA-origami Platform to Sense Cellular Interactions In Situ

The plasma membrane is the primary communicating interface between the cell and the extracellular environment. Thus, the ability to engineer new functions into the cell membrane to externally monitor cellular interactions is of great significance. Previous studies have focused on engineering cell surface proteins or incorporating synthetic protein constructs into the cell membrane, which are often highly challenging. Therefore, designing a robust approach to incorporate multifunctional nanodevices with diverse structural and dynamic functions into the cell membrane can enable engineering of the cell surface as a functional material. Furthermore, none of the available techniques provide in-situ monitoring of cell-biomarker interaction. Thus, we aim to engineer DNA-based detection devices on the cell membrane to detect the spatiotemporal distribution of cancer biomarkers in situ. Our initial focus is to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), mutated genes that are released by dead cancer cells, and protein thrombin in-situ with fluorescence-based reporting. We further aim to combine ctDNA and thrombin detection with other functions like sensing pH, other proteins, and physical forces at the cell surface with the aim of spatially and temporally profiling cellular interactions in tumor microenvironments. Ultimately, this project could lead to the development of a multi-functional in-situ detection method, capable of elucidating on the spatiotemporal distribution information of cell-environment interaction.