Education:
B.S., Xiamen University, 1998;
Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 2006;
Postdoc, Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy and Iowa State University, 2006-2008;
Assistant Professor, Iowa State University, 2008-2015;
Associate Professor, Georgia State University, 2015-2020;
Professor, Georgia State University, 2021;
Professor, Xiamen University, 2021-present.
Research Interests:
The research in the Fang Laboratory aims to open new frontiers in scientific discovery through the development and use of novel optical imaging platforms for visualizing the dynamics of molecular probes and nanomaterials in chemical and biological systems.
Optical Imaging Instrumentation: We are developing a wide variety of optical microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to push the boundaries of how human beings visualize nanoscale motions and molecular dynamics in complex chemical and biological systems.
Single Particle Orientation and Rotational Tracking (SPORT) in Biophysical Studies: The knowledge of rotational dynamics in and on live cells remains highly limited due to technical limitations. The SPORT technique has been developed for visualizing rotational motions of anisotropic plasmonic gold nanorods. The SPORT technique is capable of extracting important information (including rotational rates, modes, and directions) on the characteristic rotational dynamics involved in live biological processes, such as endocytosis and intracellular transport.
Single Molecule Catalysis: Real time imaging of single catalyst active sites in situ enables mechanistic studies on fundamental reaction steps under actual turnover operando conditions; these studies have enormous potential impact in establishing intimate structure-property relationships from which to build better (faster, cleaner, cheaper) catalysts. Our research aims to design catalytic platforms for single molecule imaging and reveal molecular dynamics (including diffusion, adsorption, and chemical conversion, as well as their coupling) on the nanocatalyst surfaces or in the nanoporous structures.
Selected Recent Publications:
Representative Publications in Single Molecule Chemical Imaging:
Dong, B.; Pei, Y.; Zhao, F.; Goh, T.W.; Qi, Z.; Xiao, C.; Chen, K.; Huang, W.*; Fang, N.* In situ Quantitative Single-molecule Study of Dynamic Catalytic Processes in Nanoconfinement. Nature Catalysis, 1, 135-140, doi: 10.1038/s41929-017-0021-1 (2018).
Dong, B.; Pei, Y.; Mansour, N.; Lu, X.; Yang, K.; Huang, W.*; Fang, N.* Deciphering Nanoconfinement Effects on Molecular Orientation and Reaction Intermediate by Single Molecule Imaging. Nature Communications, 10, 4815, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12799-x (2019).
Dong, B.; Mansour, N.; Pei, Y.; Wang, Z.; Fibrun, S.L.; Chen, M.; Cheng, X.; Pruski, M.; Huang, W.*; Fang, N.* Single Molecule Investigation of Nanoconfinement Hydrophobicity in Heterogeneous Catalysis. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142, 31, 13305-13309 (2020).
Chen, T.; Dong, B.; Chen, K.; Zhao, F.; Lee, S.; Zhang, P.; Kang, S.H.; Ha, J.W.; Xu, W.*; Fang, N.* Optical Super-Resolution Imaging of Surface Reactions. (Invited review) Chemical Reviews, 117 (11), 7510-7537 (2017).
Han, R.; Ha, J.W.; Xiao, C.; Pei, Y.; Qi, Z.; Dong, B.; Bormann, N.L.; Huang, W.*; Fang, N.* Geometry-assisted 3D Super-localization Imaging of Single Molecule Catalysis on Modular Multilayer Nanocatalysts. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 53(47), 12865-1286 (2014).
Ha, J.W.; Ruberu, T.P.A.; Han, R.; Dong, B.; Vela, J.*; Fang, N.* Super-resolution Mapping of Photo-generated Electron and Hole Separation in Single Metal-Semiconductor Nanocatalysts. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 136(4), 1398-1408 (2014)
Representative Publications in Live Cell Imaging:
Cheng, X.; Chen, K.; Dong, B.; Yang, M.; Filbrun, S.L.; Myoung, Y.; Huang, T.X.; Gu, Y.; Wang, G.; Fang, N.* Dynamin-dependent Vesicle Twist at the Final Stage of Clathrin-mediated Endocytosis. Nature Cell Biology (2021).
Cheng, X.; Chen, K.; Dong, B.; Filbrun, S.L.; Wang, G.; Fang, N.* Resolving Cargo-motor-track Interactions in Living Cells with Bifocal Parallax Single Particle Tracking. Biophysical Journal, 120, 8, 1378-1386 (2021).
New and Notable by Yale E. Goldman: Biophysical Journal, 120, 8, 1306-1308 (2021).
Chen, K.; Gu, Y.; Sun, W.; Wang, G.; Fan, X.; Xia, T.; Fang, N.* Distinct Rotational Behaviors of Cargo Revealed by Automated Five-Dimensional Single Particle Tracking. Nature Communications, 8, 887, doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01001-9 (2017).
Ali, M.R.K.; Wu, Y.; Tang, Y.; Xiao, H.; Chen, K.; Han, T.; Fang, N.*; Wu, R.*; El-Sayed, M.A.* Targeting Cancer Cell Integrins Using Gold Nanorods in Photothermal Therapy Inhibits Migration through Affecting Cytoskeletal Proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 28, E5655–E5663 (2017).
Stender, A.S.; Marchuk, K.; Liu, C.; Sander, S.; Meyer, M.W.; Smith, E.A.; Neupane, B.; Wang, G.; Li, J.; Cheng, J.X.; Huang, B.; Fang, N.* Single Cell Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy. Chemical Reviews, 113(4), 2469-2527 (2013).
Gu, Y. §; Sun, W. §; Wang, G.; Jeftinija, K.; Jeftinija S.; Fang, N.* Rotational Dynamics of Cargos at Pauses during Axonal Transport. Nature Communications, 3:1030, doi: 10.1038/ncomms2037 (2012).
Marchuk, Kyle, et al. "High-precision tracking with non-blinking quantum dots resolves nanoscale vertical displacement." Journal of the American Chemical Society 134.14 (2012): 6108-6111.
Gu, Y.; Sun, W.; Wang, G.; Fang, N.* Single Particle Orientation and Rotation Tracking Discloses Distinctive Rotational Dynamics of Drug Delivery Vectors on Live Cell Membranes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 133(15), 5720-5723 (2011).
Wang, G.§; Sun, W.§; Luo, Y.; Fang, N.* Resolving Rotational Motions of Nano-objects in Engineered Environments and Live Cells with Gold Nanorod Probes and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy. (Highlighted by Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy) Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132(46), 16417-16422 (2010).
