FURI | Spring 2022
Chemotherapeutic Drug-Conjugated Microbead Technology for Selective Binding with Methylated and Unmethylated Small DNA in the Application of Disease Detection and Biomanufacturing
In a previous study, it was discovered that aminoglycoside-derived cationic polymer microbeads (also called Amikabeads) have significant binding affinity toward negatively charged plasmid DNA due to coulombic interactions. The purpose of this study is to develop a small library of modified Amikabeads with a variety of DNA-intercalating chemotherapeutic drug molecules to modulate the ability of DNA binding. Further investigation on how these ligand-modified beads interact with small methylated and unmethylated DNA fragments (which mimics circulating tumor DNA or ctDNA) would help to develop a new technology for cancer detection and aid in improving biomanufacturing methods in the future.
Student researcher
Alyssa Kritz
Biomedical engineering
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2022