Juewen Liu

Juewen Liu

Biography

Juewen Liu

Over the past six years, Professor Liu has published over forty research papers on DNA/lipid-based sensors and functional materials with a total citation number close to two thousand.

Professor Liu is a leader in the field of bionanotechnology. His lab employs DNA, liposomes, hydrogels, and various inorganic nanoparticles as building blocks to construct functional nanomaterials for analytical and biomedical applications. He is also interested in the biotechnology of combinatorial DNA aptamer selection.

Professor Juewen Liu joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo in July 2009. Prior to his current appointment at UW, he worked for two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Micro-Engineered Materials in the University of New Mexico, and the Advanced Materials Laboratory in Sandia National Labs, where he developed a novel drug delivery vehicle based on mesoporous silica nanoparticle supported phospholipid bilayers. Amorphous silica nanoparticles are biocompatible and drug loading can be achieved through active adsorption; while the lipid bilayer provides a cell-like interface for grafting targeting ligands, PEG, and incorporation of ion channels. This drug delivery system has been successfully applied for targeted cancer therapy and gene delivery both in vitro and in vivo.

Education

  • PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • BSc, University of Science and Technology of China

Research

Juewen Liu

Research

Producing Bio-inspired Materials
Professor’s Liu’s research group applies fundamental principles of chemistry, physics, engineering, and biology to produce bio-inspired materials, devices and systems; for bioanalytical chemistry, targeted drug delivery, and nanomedicine. Biological systems (such as cells) are formed by hierarchy supramolecular assembly of biopolymers (proteins, nucleic acids, polysaccharides, and lipids) that have remarkable molecular recognition functions and thus allow the researchers to use them as templates to manipulate nanoscale objects with great precision. Professor Liu’s group is working to learn from biology and create bio-inspired assembly of nanostructures and devices at the bio/abio interface with novel properties and functions. The goal is to use these nanomaterials to probe and understand biology and to impact medicine.

Effecting Medical Intervention at the Molecular Scale
Nanomedicine utilizes nanoscale materials and principles to effect medical intervention at the molecular scale with the goal of curing diseases or repairing tissues. Drug delivery is one of the most important and promising areas in nanomedicine. Dr. Liu’s group aims to tailor interactions between multi-functional nanomaterials with biological systems to achieve targeted diagnosis and therapy. The group is interested in developing targeting ligands and delivering a wide range of therapeutic agents including plasmid DNA, siRNA, antisense DNA, protein, and small molecules and will initially focus on cancer and bacterial cells.

Environmental Monitoring Sensors
Professor Liu developed a number of highly sensitive and selective fluorescent sensors with catalytic DNA for heavy metal detection, including lead, copper, mercury, and uranium. These sensors are useful for environmental monitoring. A start-up company, ANDalyze Inc., has been incorporated to commercialize some of the technologies for heavy metal detection. In his current group, Professor Liu is interested in making biosensors based on novel materials and mechanisms. He is also interested in developing new methods to obtain functional DNA that can recognize a broad range of molecules important for environmental monitoring and disease diagnosis.

Research interests

  • Bio-inspired self-assembly and bionanotechnology
  • DNA aptamers
  • Targeted drug delivery/nanomedicine
  • Bioinorganic / Bioanalytical chemistry

Publications

Juewen Liu

Publications

  • Brendan D. Smith and Juewen Liu*, “Assembly of DNA-Functionalized Nanoparticles in Alcoholic Solvents Reveals Opposite Thermodynamic and Kinetic Trends for DNA Hybridization”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132, 6300–6301, 2010.
  • Po-Jung Jimmy Huang and Juewen Liu*, “Flow cytometry-assisted detection of adenosine in serum with an immobilized aptamer sensor”, Analytical Chemistry, 82, 4020-4026, 2010.
  • Juewen Liu, Alison Stace-Naughton, and C. Jeffrey Brinker, “Silica nanoparticle supported lipid bilayers for gene delivery”, Chemical Communications, 5100 – 5102, 2009
  • Juewen Liu, Xingmao Jiang, Carlee Ashley, and C. Jeffrey Brinker, “Electrostatically Mediated Liposome Fusion and Lipid Exchange with a Nanoparticle Supported Bilayer for Control of Surface Charge, Drug Containment, and Delivery”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131, 7567–7569, 2009 (cited 4 times)
  • Eric C. Carnes, Jason C. Harper, Carlee E. Ashley, DeAnna M. Lopez, Lina M. Brinker, Juewen Liu, Seema Singh, Susan M. Brozik and C. Jeffrey Brinker, “Cell-Directed Localization and Orientation of a Functional Foreign Transmembrane Protein within a Silica Nanostructure”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131, 14255–14257, 2009
  • Xingmao Jiang, Timothy Ward, Yung-Sung Cheng, Juewen Liu, and C. Jeffrey Brinker, “Aerosol fabrication of hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles and encapsulation of L-methionine as a candidate drug cargo”, Chemical Communications, 3019 – 3021, 2010
  • Juewen Liu, Zehui Cao, and Yi Lu, “Functional Nucleic Acid Sensors”, Chemical Reviews, 109, 1948–1998, 2009 (cited 10 times)
  • Juewen Liu, Alison Stace-Naughton, Xingmao Jiang, and C. Jeffrey Brinker, “Porous Nanoparticle Supported Lipid Bilayers (Protocells) as Delivery Vehicles”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131, 1354 – 1355, 2009. (cited 8 times)
  • Eric Carnes, Jason Harper, Carlee Ashley, DeAnna Lopez, Lina Brinker, Juewen Liu, Seema Singh, Susan Brozik, C. Jeffrey Brinker, “Cell-Directed Localization and Orientation of a Functional Foreign Transmembrane Protein within a Silica Nanostructure”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131, 14255-14257, 2009.
  • Andrea K. Brown, Juewen Liu, Ying He, and Yi Lu, “Biochemical Characterization of a Uranyl-Specific DNAzyme”, Chembiochem, 10, 486 – 492, 2009.
  • Mazumdar, Debapriya, Juewen Liu, Geng Lu, Juanzuo Zhou, and Yi Lu, “Easy-to-use dipstick tests for detection of lead in paints using non-cross-linked gold nanoparticle-DNAzyme conjugates”, Chemical Communications, 1416 – 1418, 2010
  • Jung Heon Lee, Zidong Wang, Juewen Liu, and Yi Lu, “Highly Sensitive and Selective Colorimetric Sensors for Uranyl (UO22+): Development and Comparison of Labeled and Label- Free DNAzyme-Gold Nanoparticle Systems”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 130, 14217-14226, 2008. (cited 13 times)
  • Daryl P. Wernette, Juewen Liu, Paul W. Bohn and Yi Lu, “Functional DNA-based nanoscale materials and devices for sensing trace contaminants in water”, MRS Bulletin, 33 (1), 34-41, 2008. (cited 2 times)
  • Nandini Nagraj, Juewen Liu, Stephanie Sterling, Jenny Wu, and Yi Lu, “DNAzyme catalytic beacon sensors that resist temperature-dependent variations”, Chemical Communications 4103-4105, 2009.
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Non-Base Pairing DNA Provides a New Dimension for Controlling Aptamer-Linked Nanoparticles and Sensors”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129, 8634 -8643, 2007. (cited 28 times)
  • Yi Lu and Juewen Liu, “Nanomaterials inspired by biology: dynamic assembly of error-free nanomaterials in response to multiple chemical stimuli”, Accounts of Chemical Research, 40, 315-323, 2007. (cited 46 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “A “light-up” DNAzyme catalytic beacon sensor for paramagnetic Cu2+ ions with high sensitivity and selectivity”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129, 9838-9839, 2007. (cited 56 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Rational design of “turn-on” allosteric DNAzyme catalytic beacons for aqueous mercury ions with ultrahigh sensitivity and selectivity”, Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 46, 7587-7590, 2007. (cited 87 times)
  • Hee-Kyung Kim, Ivan Rasnik, Juewen Liu, Taekjip Ha and Yi Lu, “Dissecting metal iondependent folding and catalysis of a single DNAzyme”, Nature Chemical Biology, 3, 763-768, 2007. (Highlighted by Nature Chemical Biology News and Views, and featured on the cover of the journal) (cited 10 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Colorimetric Cu2+ detection with a ligation DNAzyme and nanoparticles”, Chemical Communications, 4872-4874, 2007. (cited 22 times)
  • Jung Heon Lee, Daryl P. Wernette, Mehmet V. Yigit, Juewen Liu, and Yi Lu, “Site-specific control of distances between gold nanoparticles using phosphorothioate anchors on DNA and a short bifunctional molecular fastener”, Angewandte Chemie, International Edition., 46, 9006- 9010, 2007. (cited 12 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Quantum Dot Encoding of Aptamer-Linked Nanostructures for One Pot Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Analytes”, Analytical Chemistry, 79, 4120-4125, 2007. (cited 43 times)
  • Hee-Kyung Kim, Juewen Liu, Jing Li, Nandini Nagraj, Mingxi Li, Caroline M.-B. Pavot and Yi Lu, “Metal-dependent global folding and activity of the 8-17 DNAzyme studied by fluorescence resonance energy transfer”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129, 6896-6902, 2007. (cited 20 times)
  • Juewen Liu*, Andrea K. Brown*, Xiangli Meng, Jonathan D. Istok, David B. Watson, and Yi Lu, “A catalytic beacon sensor for uranium with parts-per-trillion sensitivity and million-fold selectivity”, (*equal contribution) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 104, 2056-2061, 2007. (This paper was highlighted by Chemical & Engineering News 85(7), 2007) (cited 44 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Preparation of aptamer-linked gold nanoparticle purple aggregates for colorimetric sensing of analytes”, Nature Protocols, 1, 246-252, 2006. (cited 75 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Design of asymmetric DNAzymes for dynamic control of nanoparticle aggregation states in response to chemical stimuli”, Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 4, 3435-3441, 2006. (cited 15 times)
  • Juewen Liu, Debapriya Mazumdar and Yi Lu, “A simple and sensitive “dip stick” test in serum based on lateral flow separation of aptamer-linked nanostructures,” Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 45, 7955-7959, 2006. (cited 63 times)
  • Yi Lu and Juewen Liu, “Functional DNA nanotechnology: emerging applications of DNAzymes and aptamers”, Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 17, 580-588, 2006. (cited 41 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Smart nanomaterials responsive to multiple chemical stimuli with controllable cooperativity”, Advanced Materials, 18, 1667-1671, 2006. (This paper was selected as “Advances in Advance” by the journal and was reported by Nanowerk). (cited 45 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Fast colorimetric sensing of adenosine and cocaine based on a general sensor design involving aptamers and nanoparticles”, Angewandte Chemie, International Juewen Liu Page 4 5/19/2010 Edition, 45, 90-94, 2006. (Commentary in Nature, 439, 666-669, 2006). (cited 186 times)
  • Juewen Liu, Daryl P. Wernette and Yi Lu, “Proof-reading and error removal in a nanomaterial assembly”, Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 44, 7290-7293, 2005. (This paper was highlighted by Chemical & Engineering News, 83(51), 49-52, 2005). (cited 17 time)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Stimuli-responsive disassembly of nanoparticle aggregates for light-up colorimetric sensing”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 127, 12677-12683, 2005. (cited 79 times)
  • Tae-Jin Yim, Juewen Liu, Yi Lu, Ravi S. Kane, and Jonathan S. Dordick, “Highly active and stable DNAzyme-carbon nanotube hybrids”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 127, 12200-12201, 2005. (cited 34 times)
  • In-Hyoung Chang, Joseph Tulock, Juewen Liu, Won-Suk Kim, Donald Cannon Jr., Yi Lu, Paul Bohn, Jonathan Sweedler, Donald Cropek, “Miniaturized lead sensor based on lead-specific DNAzyme in a manocapillary interconnected microfluidic device”, Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 3756-3761, 2005. (cited 38 times)
  • Kashan Shaikh, Kee Suk Ryu, Edgar Doluch, Jwa-Min Nam, Juewen Liu, C. Shad Thaxton, Thomas Chiesl, Annelise Barron, Yi Lu, Chad A. Mirkin, and Chang Liu, “A modular microfluidic architecture for integrated biochemical analysis”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102, 9745-9750, 2005. (cited 52 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Adenosine-dependent assembly of aptazyme-functionalized gold nanoparticles and its application as a colorimetric biosensor”, Analytical Chemistry, 76, 1627- 1632, 2004. (cited 119 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Optimization of a Pb2+-directed gold nanoparticle/DNAzyme assembly and its application as a colorimetric biosensor for Pb2+”, Chemistry of Materials, 16, 3231- 3238, 2004. (cited 41 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Colorimetric biosensors based on DNAzyme-assembled gold nanoparticles”, Journal of Fluorescence, 14, 343-354, 2004. (cited 48 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Accelerated color change of gold nanoparticles assembled by DNAzymes for simple and fast colorimetric Pb2+ detection”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 126, 12298-12305, 2004. (cited 136 times)
  • Yi Lu, Juewen Liu, Peter J. Bruesehoff, Caroline M-B Caroline, and Andrea K. Brown, “New highly sensitive and selective catalytic DNA biosensors for metal ions”, Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 18, 529-540, 2003. (This paper won the 2002 Elsevier Biosensor & Bioelectronics Award) (cited 49 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Improving fluorescent DNAzyme biosensors by combining inter- and intramolecular quenchers”, Analytical Chemistry, 75, 6666-6672, 2003. (cited 55 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “A colorimetric lead biosensor using DNAzyme-directed assembly of gold nanoparticles”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 125, 6642-6643, 2003. (This paper was highlighted by Chemical & Engineering News, 81(21), 6, 2003; Analytical Chemistry News; and Materials Research Society News) (cited 314 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “FRET study of a trifluorophom-labeled DNAzyme”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 124, 15208-15216, 2002. (cited 55 times)
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Colorimetric biosensors based on directed assembly of nanoparticles with functional DNA,” In “Functional Nucleic Acids for Sensing and Other Analytical Applications,” Edited by Yi Lu and Yingfu Li, Springer, New York, NY, 155-178, 2009.
  • Debapriya Mazumdar, Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Functional Nucleic Acid-Directed Assembly of Nanomaterials and their Applications as Colorimetric and Fluorescent Sensors for Trace Contaminants in Water” In Nanotechnology Applications: Solutions for Improving Water Quality (Eds. Mamadou Diallo, Jeremiah Duncan, Nora Savage, Anita Street & Richard Sustich), 427446, 2009.
  • Yi Lu, Juewen Liu, and Debapriya Mazumdar, “Nanoparticles/dipstick”, in Methods in Molecular Biology: “Nucleic acids and peptide aptamers”, Edited by Günter Mayer, Humana Press: Totowa, NJ, 535, 223-240, 2009.
  • Yi Lu and Juewen Liu, “Catalyst-functionalized Nanomaterials,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine, 1, 35-46, 2008.
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Multi-fluorophore fluorescence resonance energy transfer for probing nucleic acids structure and folding.” Methods in Molecular Biology (Totowa, NJ, United States), 335 (Fluorescent Energy Transfer Nucleic Acid Probes), 257-271, 2006.
  • Juewen Liu and Yi Lu, “Fluorescent DNAzyme biosensors for metal ions based on catalytic molecular beacons”, Methods in Molecular Biology (Totowa, NJ, United States), 335 (Fluorescent Energy Transfer Nucleic Acid Probes), 275-288, 2006.

Contact Me

Juewen Liu

Contact Information

Name: Juewen Liu
Email Address: liujw@uwaterloo.ca
Campus Address: ESC 140
Telephone Number: 519-888-4567 x38919