03
High-affinity, selective DNA aptamers for the detection of tobramycin in eye drops
Zhang X., Chao E.H.P., Liu Q., Mu X., Zhao B., Wong K.Y., Johnson P.E., Liu J.*
6
citations
I work on molecular recognition at the interface of aptamer discovery, sequence–structure computation and functional materials. My aim is an independent analytical-chemistry programme that turns selection data into validated, auditable molecular-recognition tools — one line running from SELEX at the bench, through the computation that interprets it, to sensing and delivery devices.
Thirty publications, nine as first or co-first author. Six manuscripts refereed since 2024 for JACS, Science Advances, Nano Letters and others. Five undergraduate researchers trained.
Awards, funding & programme support
AptaPilot is a five-program suite that turns SELEX sequencing output into a ranked, structure-annotated shortlist — the step that decides which sequences are worth synthesizing. Creator and lead developer; I use it in my own work. Every figure it reports rebuilds from raw sequencing with a single command and is cross-checked against a second, independently written pipeline. See the project →
Copyright registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in August 2026; corresponding applications filed with the U.S. Copyright Office. Disclosed to the University of Waterloo under Policy 73 and confirmed creator-owned.
Applied to multi-round SELEX datasets from an external research group — three targets, 5.4 million reads across six sequenced rounds. The group went on to commit its remaining datasets and to invite co-authorship on the resulting publication.
† equal contribution · * corresponding author. Citation counts are fetched live by DOI and will read lower than Google Scholar, which also counts preprints, theses and non-indexed venues. Journal-level metrics (impact factor, CAS tier) are available behind the “Journal metrics” switch above; they describe the journal, not the paper.
Output by publication year across the current selection. Click a bar to isolate that year.
When the citations landed, not when the papers came out. Year breakdown live from OpenAlex, whose totals run slightly below Google Scholar's.
Ran capture-SELEX campaigns against five small-molecule targets — tobramycin, carbendazim, acetamiprid, cellulose and BPA — delivering high-affinity DNA aptamers and label-free light-up fluorescent (ThT) biosensors for therapeutic drug monitoring, food safety and environmental analysis. Resolved binding thermodynamics and structure by ITC, NMR and CD spectroscopy.
Built spherical nucleic acids by conjugating cornea-binding aptamers to gold nanoparticles through a thermal-evaporation route. Benchmarked six aptamer–AuNP conjugates for corneal tissue binding, HCEC cell targeting (Kd = 169 nM for Cornea-S5) and selective staining of corneal scars.
Partnered with the Electrical & Computer Engineering group (Prof. George Shaker) to transduce the biochemical state of stimulus-responsive hydrogels into millimetre-wave radar signatures, enabling non-contact, electronics-free biosensing.
Co-first-authored a comprehensive review of the biomedical applications of nanozymes from an enzymology perspective; contributed to aptamer-based Tl⁺ detection and to nuclease-resistant nanoflare studies.
Designed Ag/AgCl, Ag/AgBr and Au/Ag/AgI plasmonic photocatalysts for photodynamic therapy, developed carrier-free drug-delivery platforms, and synthesized biocompatible nanoparticles with antibacterial and anticancer activity.
Characterized the interactions of Au, CuS and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with liposomes and polymersomes; developed molecularly imprinted nanozymes with strongly enhanced substrate specificity; contributed to a liposome-based drug-delivery collaboration for cancer therapy with Grand River Hospital.
Five undergraduate researchers trained, two of whom have gone on to master's programmes. Each project ran from technical training to an interpretable result, and each trainee is a co-author on the work it produced.
Training covered capture-SELEX and tissue-SELEX, fluorescence and circular-dichroism spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry, and the synthesis of gold nanoparticles, DNA conjugates and stimulus-responsive hydrogels.
I coordinate the student contributors to AptaPilot — setting technical scope, maintaining the documentation and managing the copyright process — and two of them are named authors on registered software works. I also produced an open instructional video on aptamer-selection analysis.
Reviewer since 2024 for Journal of the American Chemical Society, Science Advances, Nano Letters, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Chinese Chemical Letters.
Full CV, reprints and unpublished data available on request.
[email protected]