PhD, Waseda University, 2006

Development of microneedle-based gene delivery platform

We are studying materials that would be beneficial for bio/nanoscience and energy applications, with particular interest in microalgae cells. Microalgae are unicellular organisms that are gaining increasing interest due to their potential use in biosynthesis of drugs and fuel. One of the key issues to successfully use algae for such applications is to genetically modify their genome and improve their biosynthetic properties. However, the limited methods for delivering foreign genes into the algae cells are setting back the advancement of this field. Our current project involves the development of a novel type of gene delivery platform to solve this problem. We use methods such as template synthesis and electrochemical modification to engineer the structure and surface property of the platform material. The goal of this project is to establish a high through-put, high efficiency gene delivery method.

Mukaibo, H.; Johnson, E. A.; Mira, F; Andrion, K.; Osteikoetxea, X; Ramiro, P.; Martin, C. R. "Template-Synthesized Gold Microneedle Arrays for Gene Delivery to the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Chloroplast", Mater. Lett., 2014, in press. Durney, A.; Kawaguchi, S.; Pennamon, G.; Mukaibo, H. "Heterogeneous Reaction Bi-Cell Platform for Polymeric Hydrogel Thin Film Synthesis", Mater. Lett., 2014, 133, 171-174. Guo, P.; Hall, E. W.; Schirhagl, R.; Mukaibo, H.; Martin, C. R.; Zare, R. N. "Microfluidic capture and release of bacteria in a conical nanopore array", Lab on a Chip, 2012, 12, 558-561. Perry, J. L.; Guo, P.; Johnson, S. K.; Mukaibo, H.; Stewart, J. D.; Martin, C. R. "Fabrication of Biodegradable Nano Test Tubes by Template Synthesis", Nanomedicine, 2010, 5, 1151-1160.

Sexton, L. T.; Mukaibo, H.; Katira, P.; Hess, H.; Sherrill, S. A.; Horne, L. P.; Martin, C. R. "An Adsorption-Based Model for Pulse Duration in Resistive-Pulse Protein Sensing," Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2010,132, 6755-6763.