Educational Background:

PhD, Stanford University, 2004 BS, Nanjing University, 1997

Awards:

•2009 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow •2007 NSF CAREER Award •2005 Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award •2002-2003 Franklin Veatch Memorial Fellowship •1999-2002 Gerhard Casper Stanford Graduate Fellowship

Research Description:

       Our research focuses on developing novel single-molecule methods to characterize and understand the properties of biological systems and nanoscale materials. As compared to traditional ensemble measurements, the single molecule approach removes ensemble averaging, so that heterogeneous behaviors and temporal dynamics of molecular properties can be characterized. Our research program provides students with scientific training spanning from modern optical microscopies, rigorous data analyses, and theoretical formulation to molecular biology, protein manipulation, nanotechnology, and nano-materials. Currently our research has two main directions:

(1) Single-molecule bioinorganic chemistry.

    This research direction in our group resides at the interface of bioinorganic chemistry and single molecule biophysics. We aim to use single-molecule methods to study the function and dynamics of metalloproteins. Specifically, we are working on three projects in this direction:

    • metallochaperones in metal trafficking
    • metalloregulators in transcriptional regulation
    • bioinorganic enzymology

(2) Single-molecule nanocatalysis and electrocatalysis.

    This research direction in our group uses single-molecule methods to study the catalytic properties of nanoscale materials. Nanoscale materials possess unique catalytic properties that their bulk counter parts often do not have. Understanding the catalytic properties of nanoscale materials is important, but hampered by their poly-dispersion in ensemble measurements. We are developing novel single-molecule fluorescence methods to interrogate nano-catalysts to understand their structure-function relationships. Currently, we are working on:

    • Single-nanoparticle catalysis
    • Electrocatalysis of single carbon nanotubes

Selected Publications:

S. K. Sarkar, N. M. Andoy, J. J. Benítez, P. R. Chen, J. S. Kong, C. He, P. Chen "Engineered Holliday Junctions as Single-Molecule Reporters for Protein-DNA Interactions with Application to a MerR-Family Regulator" Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2007, 129, 12461-12467.

P. Chen, N. M. Andoy "Single-Molecule Fluorescence Studies from A Bioinorganic Perspective" Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2008, 361, 809-819.

J. J. Benítez, A. M. Keller, P. Ochieng, L. A. Yatsunyk, D. L. Huffman, A. C. Rosenzweig, P. Chen "Probing Transient Copper Chaperone-Wilson Disease Protein Interactions at the Single-Molecule Level with Nanovesicle Trapping" Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2008, 130, 2446-2447.

W. Xu, J. S. Kong, Y.-T. E. Yeh, P. Chen "Single-Molecule Nanocatalysis Reveals Heterogeneous Reaction Pathways and Catalytic Dynamics" Nature Materials, 2008, 7, 992-996.

W. Xu, J. S. Kong, P. Chen "Single-Molecule Kinetic Theory of Heterogeneous and Enzyme Catalysis" Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009, 113, 2393-2404.

W. Xu, J. S. Kong, P. Chen "Probing the Catalytic Activity and Heterogeneity of Au-Nanoparticles at the Single-Molecule Level" Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2009, 11, 2767-2778.

P. Chen, W. Xu, X. Zhou, D. Panda, A. Kalininskiy "Single-Nanoparticle Catalysis at Single-Turnover Resolution" Chemical Physics Letter, 2009, 470, 151-157.

W. Xu, H. Shen, Y. J. Kim, X. Zhou, G. Liu, J. Park, P. Chen "Single-Molecule Electrocatalysis by Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes" Nano Letters, 2009, doi:10.1021/nl900988f.