Laboratories for Biomolecular Engineering & Nanotechnology

Group Members

Jun Li

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E-mail:		jli29@emory.edu

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CV/Resume:

Education l Research Summary l Publications l Fellowships l Honors & Awards

Education

Training in Nanotechnology, focus on target drug delivery, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University	2005
Ph.D., Chemistry, Hunan University, China	2002
MS, Chemistry, Hunan University, China	1997
BS, Chemistry, Hunan University, China	1994

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Research Summary

Dr. Li's research included the synthesis of the conjugate of anti-tumor drug, Taxol, with very hydrophilic polymer, especially polysaccharide such as heparin. The conjugate was completely water soluble in PBS and it is suitable for tail vein injection. To delivery therapeutic drug to the target tumor cell, Folic acid was conjugated on the polymer because there are sufficient FA receptors on tumor cell. For the release issue of Taxol from polymer conjugate, some free Taxol was also entrapped in the core of the ternary conjugate to form a micelle nano-particle for in vivo study.

Cellular and animal studies were also performed to test the effect of the synthesized drugs. In vitro cytotoxicity study showed that the targeted micelle HFT-T was more effective in inhibiting cell growth, compared to non-targeted micelle-encapsulated Taxol (HT-T). Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry studies indicated that HFT-T had two times higher cellular uptake than HT-T in FR-overexpressing KB-3-1 cells, but not in FR-negative cell line TU21. To test the in vivo efficacy of HFT-T particles, nude mice bearing KB-3-1 tumors were injected with free Taxol, HT, HFT, HFT-T, or PBS from tail vein. Compared to the control group, only HFT-T and free Taxol treatments significantly reduced tumor size. Therefore, it is showed that nano-particle with a small target molecules may benefit for the delivery of Taxol to the tumor.

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Publications and Presentation

1. Jun Li, Hongfei Yan, Kemin Wang, Weihong Tan, et al. "Hair-pin Fluorescence DNA Probe for Real Time Monitoring of DNA Methylation", Analytical Chemistry, 2007, 79, 1050-1056. (IF=5.646)

2. Zhiwen Tang, Kemin Wang, Weihong Tan, Changbei Mao, Jun Li, et al "Real-time Investigation of Nucleic Acid Phosphorylation Process Using Molecular Beacons" Nucleic Acids Research, 2005,33(11): e97,1-6.(IF=6.317)

3. Zhiwen Tang, Kemin Wang, Weihong Tan, Jun Li, et al. "Real-time Monitoring of Nucleic Acid Ligation in Homogenous Solutions Using Molecular Beacons", Nucleic Acids Research, 2003, 31: e148, 1-7. (IF=6.317)

4. Xiaoxiao He, Kemin Wang, Weihong Tan, Bin Liu, Xia Lin, Chunmei He, Du Li, Shasheng Huang and Jun Li, "Bioconjugated Nanoparticles for DNA Protection form Cleavage", Journal of American Chemical Society, 2003, 125: 7168-9. (IF=7.696)

5. Jun Li, Kemin Wang, Weihong Tan, et al. "Quantitative Detection of the Expression Product of Tumor Suppressor Gene ING1 by Molecular Beacon", Chem. J Chinese University, 2004, 25: 421-4. (IF=0.724)

6. Jun Li, Weihong Tan, Kemin Wang, et al. "Ultrasensitive Optical DNA Biosensor Based on Surface Immobilization of Molecular Beacon by a Bride Structure", Anal. Sci., 2001, 17: 1149-53.(IF=1.589)

7. Jun Li, Kemin Wang, Xiaohai Yang, et al. "A Chemiluminescent Hydrogen Peroxide Sensor Based on Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) Immobilized by Sol-gel Method", Sensors & Actuators B: Chemical, 2000, 65: 239-40.(IF=2.331)

8. Kemin Wang, Jun Li, Xiaohong Fang, et al. "Novel Fluorescent Molecular Beacon DNA Probes for Biomolecular Recognition", Biomedical Photonics Handbook (Ed. Tuan Vo-Dinh), CRC Press, 2003.

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Fellowships

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Honors and Awards

Received Research Grant

National Natural Science Foundation of P.R.China, USD 27,500, (No.20305006), From Jan.2004 to Dec. 2006. Trace analysis and image of tumor relative gene transcription product in living cell. (Principal Investigator)

Proposal Reviewer: National Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Journal Reviewer: Proteomics, Cancer Letter, and Oncology
2005	"121" Scholar Engineering in New Century of Hunan Province, P.R.China
2003	Award of Outstanding Young Teacher of Hunan Province, P.R.China
1999	Award of DuPont Co. Scholarship

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