Discovery and Translation of the Cell Membrane Coating Nanotechnology
In this talk, I will present the research discovery and translational progress of the cell membrane coating nanotechnology. By cloaking synthetic nanoparticle cores with the natural plasma membranes derived from human cells (e.g., RBC, platelet, WBC, cancer cell, etc.), the resulting cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (termed “Cellular Nanoparticles” or “CNPs”) retain many of the surface functionalities of their source cells. These biological functions include immune evasion, specific binding to target tissues or cells, and selective interactions with harmful biological agents such as bacterial toxins and viruses. Such multifaceted, cell-mimicking interfacial properties arise from the rich repertoire of membrane proteins, lipids, and associated functionalities preserved on the nanoparticle surface. In addition to wild-type cell membranes, CNPs can also be fabricated using genetically engineered cell membranes. By expressing desired functional proteins on the plasma membranes of source cells, CNPs can be tailored to achieve a broad range of therapeutic and drug delivery applications.
Bio: Liangfang Zhang is the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Chancellor Professor and Chair of the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the University of California San Diego. Zhang received his B.E. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University and completed his Ph.D. in chemical & biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006 under the mentorship of Steve Granick. He was a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Robert Langer at MIT from 2006 to 2008. Zhang joined the Department of Nanoengineering at UC San Diego as an assistant professor in 2008, was promoted to professor in 2014, and became the inaugural Joan and Irwin Jacobs Chancellor’s Endowed Chair in Innovations for Engineering in Medicine in 2021. In 2023, he was appointed as chair of his department, which was renamed and endowed as the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering in 2024.
His research focuses on creating innovative biomimetic nanotechnologies for biomedical applications such as countermeasures, drug delivery, vaccines, and diagnostics. He has authored 320 peer-reviewed publications and holds 135 patents and patent applications worldwide. Zhang is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE, elected 2015), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, elected 2018), and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI, elected 2020).