News

2024 December | The Lu group won the Lead Detect Prize together with GlucoSentient, Inc.

2024 August | Mandira's work on brain imaging with fluorescence sensors using exosome delivery has been covered by ACS Newsroom.

2024 August | The Lu group, along with the groups of Thomas Cundari, Andy Ellington, Kami Hull and Mike Rose, have received a Catalyst for Discovery program grant from the Welch Foundation.

2024 March | The Lu group is among the winners of Phase I of the Lead Detect Prize.

2024 March | The Lu group has become an associate member of The Acquired Resistance to Therapy Network (ARTNet). We are working with Dr. Boyi Gan and others at the MD Anderson Cancer Center on developing imaging probes to gain mechanistic insights into ferroptosis and cuprotosis and using the insights to design better ferroptosis- and cuprotosis-inducing anti-cancer drugs.

2024 March | The Lu group has received a grant from CPRIT to decipher iron redox cycles in ferroptosis-based cancer therapy.

2023 April | Newfound Link Between Alzheimer’s and Iron Could Lead to New Medical Interventions | Yuting, Seyed and Ryan’s paper has been published in Science Advances. It reports a new imaging probe that has, for the first time, shown that in the same regions of the brain where the amyloid beta plaques associated with Alzheimer’s occur, there is also an increase in iron redox. The imaging probe could yield even more details about the causes of Alzheimer’s and help in the search for new drugs to treat it. Their findings have been covered by CNS , Science Daily, and several other news outlets.

2023 April | Lu group’s research on using PANDA to advance new therapeutics and gene editing tools has been featured in ACS Central Science and Chemical and Engineering News.

2022 December | Dr. Lu has won the prestigious Allen Distinguished Investigators award | This award is granted to biologists whose research has world-changing potential. See the news on the Allen Instittute and the CNS.

2021 December | Dr. Lu has been selected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors | Founded in 2010, the National Academy of Inventors aims to recognize inventors with patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with an overall emphasis on innovation that clearly benefits society. See the news on the CNS website.

2021 November | New DNAzyme reveals different Li+ accumulation pattern in patient neurons | Lithium has been a drug for treating bipolar disorder (BD), a mental health condition marked by extreme mood swings since 1949. However, scientists still don’t have a clear understanding of how the drug works, because of lack of a sensor selective for Li+. Recently, our paper published in ACS Central Science, shine new light on bipolar disorder by developing a new DNAzyme-based sensor specifically for Li+ in live cells, discovering that neurons from BD patients accumulate higher levels of lithium than healthy controls. The paper has gathered attention from many news outlets, including Eureka Alert, Science Daily , Mirage News, and others. Claire's work has also been covered by C&ENews . See the commentary on the article in ACS.

2021 September | DNA sensor quickly determines whether viruses are infectious | Most tests for viruses, including SAR2-Cov-2, are based on detecting viral RNA and antigen and have been shown to be poor in informing whether a virus is infectious or not. They may result in delayed treatment or quarantine, or premature release of those who may still be contagious. Ana’s paper, published in Science Advances , address this key issue by demonstrating direct detection of human adenovirus or SARS-CoV-2 with ability to inform infectivity using DNA aptamer-nanopore sensors. See news release from UIUC News Bureau. The paper has gathered attention from many news outlets, including NSF, Chemical and Engineering News and others. Her work has been also covered in NSF's Discovery Files. You can also listen to Dr. Lu explaining Ana's work on WPGU radio .

2021 June | Genetic engineering with DNAzymes | Meet "PANDA", another gene scissor made with DNAzymes, first reported in Mingkuan's paper. With "PANDA", DNAzymes can now cut double-stranded DNA, making them powerful alternatives for protein-based genetic engineering systems. See the news release from UIUC News Bureau.

2019 December | Shanni’s paper in Chem. Sci. has been included as part of themed collection: 2019 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection

2018 September | A milestone in the use of metalloprotein engineering as a tool to guide catalyst design | Evan’s paper has appeared in Science. Congratulations! A Perspective in the same issue of Science called Evan's paper "a milestone in the use of metalloprotein engineering as a tool to guide catalyst design". Another article in Chemistry World called it “major advancement in engineering synthetic enzymes”. Here is a news release from UIUC News Bureau titled "Designer enzyme conquers sulfite reduction, a bottleneck in environmental cleanup", along with a video to explain the work. This work has so far been picked up by 7 news outlets and 11 tweeters as of 9/23/2018, and has been recommended in F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field:

2018 June | Biocomputing for point‐of‐care diagnostics | JingJing' s recent paper in Angew Chemie has been selected as a VIP paper, and has been highlighted by C&EN.

2017 10 30 | Photoacoustic Imaging | JingJing's recent JACS paper on DNA Aptamer-based Activatable Probes for Photoacoustic Imaging in Living Mice has been honored as Editor’s Choice.

2017 10 10 | The Role of H-Bond Network | Igor's paper has been included as a paper in an ACS Select Virtual Issue: Engineered Biomolecular Catalysts. Congratulations, Igor!

2017 03 21 | OK Molly Chemistry | Dr. Lu has been invited to be one of 42 leading chemists to write a commentary (The 'OK Molly' Chemistry) for the special "Holy Grails in Chemistry" issue of Accounts of Chemical Research in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ACS journal.

2016 11 24 | New study shows why heme-copper oxidases prefer copper over iron | The recent Nature Chemistry publication Why copper is preferred over iron for oxygen activation and reduction in heme-copper oxidases by Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran and others of the Lu group has been featured on Phys.Org to highlight its important insights into naturally-occurring heme-copper complexes.

2016 06 21 | Now We "NO" | A recent publication by Shiliang Tian and others has been featured in a Nature Chemistry editorial on elucidating the mechanism for reversible NO binding to T1 copper centers in proteins such as azurin.

2015 12 02 | Chemists Mutate Protein to Achieve Wider-Than-Ever Redox Range | Work by Parisa Hosseinzadeh and others in the Lu group has been highlighted by C&EN and given a commentary by PNAS for the successful engineering of the entire physiological redox range into a single protein scaffold, azurin.

2015 11 24 | Having Biomarkers at the Fingertips | A recent publication by JingJing Zhang, et al., has been highlighted in Angewandte Chemie for their work to expand the utility of the common glucose meter.

2015 09 21 | Designed Enzyme on Par with the Native | C&EN has highlighted recent work by the Lu group and collaborators to engineer a myoglobin mutant with oxidase activity nearly that of native CcO by increasing the rate of electron transfer from cytochrome b5. The article may be found here.

2015 07 28 | A Pocket Test For Melamine-Adulterated Milk | The Lu group and collaborators have recently developed a way to utilize personal glucose meters (PGM) to detect melamine contamination in milk powder; featured on C&EN News, the PGM relies on a DNA aptamer that is selective for melamine down to 67.5 ppb.

2015 05 11 | Sodium Selective DNAzyme sensor | Recent work by Seyed-Fakhreddin Torabi, et al., has been featured in a summary article at Phys.Org highlighting the development of sodium-selective DNAzymes that function in living cells and shed light on the general development of ion-selective sensors. The work has also been featured on the UIUC school of Molecular and Cellular Biology webpage.

2014 01 02 | Nucleic Acids - Chemistry and Applications | A recent virtual issue of the Journal of Organic Chemistry/Organic Letters/Journal of the American Chemical Society commemorating the 60th anniversary of the elucidation of the DNA double helix has highlighted work by Le-Le, et al. due to its "high scientific quality and broad appeal." The article describes a simple strategy to prepare uniform DNA-modified up-conversion nanoparticles as versatile bioprobes.

2013 03 11 | Reversible assembly leads to tiny encrypted messages | Recent work by N. Y. Wong, et al. shows the development of a method for reversible and dynamic nano-assembly used to encrypt Morse code messages on a DNA origami tile. This work has been highlighted by UIUC News, JACS Spotlights.

2012 08 17 | 'Genetic code' guides nanoparticle growth | Work by Zidong Wang, et al. demonstrating the use of defined DNA sequences to achieve specific nanoparticle morphologies has been highlighted in C&EN, Chemistry World, and, most recently, the 2012‑2013 Beckman Institute Annual Report.

2012 05 07 | Bespoke Enzymes Push The Envelope | Recent work by Kyle Miner, et al. and Xiaohong Liu, et al. studying the role of tyrosine in oxidase activity in the myoglobin-based oxidase mimic Cu_BMb has highlighted the functional importance of this structural feature and its histidine crosslink. This work has been highlighted by C&EN and Photon Sciences News.

2012 04 17 | More Coverage For Glucose Meters | Yu Xiang's recent publication, extending the DNA based glucose sensors to detect a wider range of relevant targets, has been featured in "C&EN Online!"

2012 01 24 | DNA: Janus Nanoparticles' Better Half | Hang's recent publication in ACS Nano has been featured by "In Nano!"

2012 01 18 | A Glucose Meter That Detects Viruses | Yu Xiang's recent publication, adapting glucose sensors to detect viral DNA, has been featured by C&EN and others!

2011 07 25 | A Personal Meter For Everything | Yu Xiang's recent publication, illustrating the development of a glucose meter-based system that can sense a variety of analytes, has been highlighted by C&EN, the University of Illinois News Bureau, and others! Congratulations!

2011 02 04 | Grown in a crystal | The Lu lab's recent publication of gold nanoparticle grown in a protein crystal has been highlighted in the news. Congratulations!

2010 11 05 | Yu has been Selected | The recent article by Yu Xiang, et al., has been selected by Prof. Steven J. Lippard to appear in issue #9 of JACS Select - The Interface of Inorganic Chemistry and Biology. Congratulations!

2010 10 18 | Image Challenge | Think you understand DNAzyme kinetics? Prove it! A figure from our recent article about lead detection has been featured in JACS Image Challenges.

2010 09 16 | Using DNA to detect toxins | The Lu lab's research in DNA- and nanoparticle-based sensors for toxins and drugs is featured in the Fall issue of the Beckmann Institute's Synergy publication. Watch the video.

2010 02 01 | Dipstick test for toxic lead | Priya's recent work on lead detection using nanoparticle-DNAzyme conjugates has been featured in the news. Congratulations!

2009 12 04 | Metalloprotein made to order | Natasha Yeung and coworkers' work on building a structural and functional model of nitric oxide reductase (NOR) by introducing an iron binding site into myoglobin has been highlighted in the news. Congratulations!

2009 11 04 | Electron-transfer proteins tweaked | Nick's recent work on modulating protein redox potential has been highlighted in the news. Congratulations!

2009 08 | New drug delivery system | The Lu group's research on drug delivery has been highlighted.

2009 03 | DNA-directed nanoassembly | Zidong's new paper "Functional DNA Directed Assembly of Nanomaterials for Biosensing" in the Journal of Materials Chemistry will take the cover of Issue 13, 2009. Congratulations Zidong and Dr. Lu!

2008 06 09 | Three Protein Copper Sites Interconnected | Masha's 2008 PNAS paper gets recognition in C&EN News.

2008 | Most accessed article | "MRI Detection of Thrombin with Aptamer Functionalized Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles", published in Bioconjugate Chemistry, is being featured on the ACS Publications web site as a most-accessed article of the 1st quarter of 2008.

2008 | Most cited article | "Smart Nanomaterials Inspired by Biology: Dynamic Assembly of Error-Free Nanomaterials in Response to Multiple Chemical and Biological Stimuli", published in Accounts of Chemical Research, was featured on the ACS Publications website as one of the Most-Cited Articles published in 2007 and cited through the period ending December 31, 2007.

2008 02 04 | Students get a say | Dr. Lu's Paper on Chemical Education was published in one of the highest impact magazines of general science, Science, and highlighted by Chemical and Engineering News, published by ACS.

2008 | Top 10 nanomedicine article | Juewen's paper "Quantum Dot Encoding of Aptamer-Linked Nanostructures for One-Pot Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Analytes" which was published in Anal. Chem., was selected as one of the top 10 (#9) 2007 nanomedicine publications. The list was selected by Nanomedicine Research.

2008 01 14 | Cool solution for sensitive biomolecules | The study for temperature independent pH buffer was highlighted by University of Illinois News Bureau and the RSC supplement Chemical Biology.

2007 11 21 | The changing colour of gold | Juewen's work on the design of a DNAzyme-based Cu(II) sensor has been highlighted by the Royal Society of Chemistry

2007 11 12 | The key to unlocking the secret of highly specific DNAzyme catalysis | The Lu lab's recent publication showing that DNAzymes can use several different modes of activation has been highlighted in the news.

2007 | Research Excellence Highlighted by Annual Report of the University of Illinois | The development of a lateral device for detection of cocaine based on gold nanoparticles was highlighted by the annual report of the University of Illinois. "Urbana researchers have developed a simple 'dipstick' test for detecting cocaine and other drugs in saliva, urine and blood serum..."

2007 02 12 | Disposable Sensor Uses DNA To Detect Hazardous Uranium Ions | Several scientific media outlets have reported the uranyl sensor with high sensitivity (ppb level) and selectivity based on the DNAzyme technology which was developed in the Lu Lab recently.

2006 11 13 | 'Dipstick' test for drug detection devised | Juewen and Debapriya's work on a lateral device for detection of drugs, such as cocaine, based on aptamer technology was reported by several scientific media sources.

2006 03 13 | Advances in Advance | Juewen's paper in Adv. Mater. was selected to be one of the "Advances in Advance" in the journal. The articles listed here have been judged by the referees or the editor to be either very important or very urgent and are immediately copyedited, proofread, and published online when the manuscript arrives in the editorial office in its final form.

2006 02 09 | Aptamers in Nanoland | Juewen's work on nanoparticle- and aptamer-based colorimetric sensors for adenosine and cocaine was highlighted by Nature.

2003 05 15 | Red signals lead | Juewen’s work on designing a highly sensitive and selective colorimetric DNAzyme sensor for Pb²⁺ detection has been reported by several scientific media sources.

2001 03 26 | What's in a name? | Read Dr. Lu's outlook on what it means to be a bio-inorganic chemist in the 125th Anniversary Issue of C&EN.

2000 11 01 | Red signals lead | Jing’s work on designing a highly sensitive and selective fluorescent DNAzyme sensor for Pb²⁺ detection is reported by several scientific media sources.