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conferenceseries.com
October 20-22, 2016 Rome, Italy
11th International Conference and Expo on
Nanoscience and Molecular Nanotechnology
Volume 7, Issue 5 (Suppl) J Nanomed Nanotechnol 2016
ISSN: 2157-7439 JNMNT an open access journal NanoScience 2016
October 20-22, 2016
Nanofabrication strategies for influencing biomolecule behavior
P Guida, E Angeli, R Lo Savio, L Repetto, G Firpo and U Valbusa
University of Genoa, Italy
In recent years, nanofabrication techniques have shown themselves to have the most promising potential for innovative research
on crucial biomolecules for life sciences, such as DNA and RNA. Two main examples are: Firstly, large-scale nanostructuring,
effective for engineering innovative biosensors; and secondly, nanopores, intensively exploited for developing fast and inexpensive
technologies for DNA sequencing, a major research challenge in the field of biomedicine. In addition to nanopores, nanoslits and
nanochannels allow interesting functionalities for the study, processing and sorting of DNA. For example, when a long DNA chain
is forced to enter a nanochannel, it stretches, thus acquiring a conformation which allows its genetic information to be optically
read. Herein, we have focused on various geometry-based strategies, involving short and long channels, as well as funnels and a
series of pit nanostructures, integrated into polymeric lab-on-a-chip models. We have implemented these miniaturized systems in
order to study, at single molecule level, the typical conformations of DNA chains in various nano-confinement conditions whilst also
observing the dynamic behavior of the long strands in crossing structures with different cross sections. In fact, by taking advantage
of polydimethylsiloxane's elasticity, we have developed a strategy for modulating the translocation dynamics of single molecules
crossing a nanochannel. Lastly, we have investigated on important applications for life and material sciences of the recent innovative
tool which counts and recognizes nanoparticles through a new simultaneous optical and electrical sensing method.
Biography
P Guida graduated from the University of Genoa in 2003 with a thesis on Biophysics and Dysfunctioning of CLC-channels. In 2008, at the same university, she
obtained her PhD in Neurochemistry and Neurobiology (Molecular and Clinical Experimental Biology and Medicine); her thesis being on NMDARs Pathological
Modulations. Her working career began in 2002 at the IBF-CNR-Genoa, remaining there until 2007. Since May 2009, she has been a Post-doctoral Researcher
at the university's physics department responsible for developing biomimetic platforms for cancer cells, tissue engineering and nanostructures for diagnostic
applications. She is co-author of several papers published in numerous international journals.
P Guida et al., J Nanomed Nanotechnol 2016, 7:5 (Suppl)