Jing Yu received his BS in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University. He received his PhD from the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012, where he worked in Professor Jacob Israelachvili's group. His PhD work mostly focused on studying the adhesion mechanism of mussel adhesive proteins, the adhesion and friction of structured and rough surfaces, and the lubrication mechanism of human joints. From 2013 to 2014, he was a postdoctoral scholar in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at California Institute of Technology. Jing joined the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering in 2014. His research interests include (1) intermolecular and surface interactions of macromolecules (especially polyelectrolytes brushes) and membranes, (2) developing polymer-based functional materials, and (3) properties of materials under confinement.
Surface Forces of Polyelectrolyte Brushes: Understanding polyelectrolyte brush behavior has a great deal of practical interest in the realm of novel materials and interactions with physiological systems. In part, this interest is due to growing desire for polymeric materials, which can respond to changes in their environment. The polyelectrolyte brushes studied in this project are composed of the strong polyanion poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) and are highly responsive to changes in the ionic environment of their surrounding solution.
The Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA) measures forces between two surfaces coated with polyelectrolyte brushes. These force profiles provide both structural (i.e., polyelectrolyte brush height) and behavioral information of the polyelectrolyte brushes. When only mono-valent counterions are present, two brushes brought into contact interact in a repulsive manner. However, with the addition of multi-valent ions to the system, brushes readily collapse and adhere strongly to one another due to the fact that higher valence ions are able to neutralize multiple charges within the polyelectrolyte brushes.
Aside from polyelectrolyte brushes, Jing Yu is also interested in various interactions involved in polymeric systems, including the electrostatic interaction, structure forces, hydrophobic and hydration interactions, hydrogen bond, metal chelation, and specific ligand-acceptor interactions.
Ion Specificity Influences on the Structure of Zwitterionic Brushes
Macromolecules 2023, 56, 5, 1945–1953
Sequence-Controlled Secondary Structures and Stimuli Responsiveness of Bioinspired Polyampholytes
Biomacromolecules 2022, 23, 9, 3798–3809
Harnessing the therapeutic potential of biomacromolecules through intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins
Yu Tian, Matthew V. Tirrell, James L. LaBelle. "Harnessing the therapeutic potential of biomacromolecules through intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins". Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2022.
Targeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles treat vascular complications in vivo
Zhengjie Zhou, Chih-Fan Yeh, Michael Mellas, Myung-Jin Oh, Jiayu Zhu, Jin Li, Ru-Ting Huang, Devin L Harrison, Tzu-Pin Shentu, David Wu, Michael Lueckheide, Lauryn Carver, Eun Ji Chung, Lorraine Leon, Kai-Chien Yang, Matthew V Tirrell, Yun Fang. "Targeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles treat vascular complications in vivo", PNAS.
Protein primary structure correlates with calcium oxalate stone matrix preference
Yu Tian, Matthew Tirrell, Carley Davis, Jeffrey A Wesson. "Protein primary structure correlates with calcium oxalate stone matrix preference". Plos One, 2021, e0257515.
Polyampholyte physics: Liquid–liquid phase separation and biological condensates
Dinic, Jelena, Amanda B. Marciel, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Polyampholyte physics: Liquid–liquid phase separation and biological condensates." Current opinion in colloid & interface science 54 (2021): 101457.
Polymersomes Decorated with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Receptor-Binding Domain Elicit Robust Humoral and Cellular Immunity
"Polymersomes Decorated with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Receptor-Binding Domain Elicit Robust Humoral and Cellular Immunity". ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 8, 1368-1380.
Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Alexander E. Marras, Jeffrey M. Ting, Kaden C. Stevens, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles". J. Phys. Chem. B, 2021, 125, 26, 7076-7089.
Physical Property Scaling Relationships for Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Alexander E. Marras, Trinity R. Campagna, Jeffrey R. Vieregg, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Physical Property Scaling Relationships for Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles". Macromolecules, 2021, 54, 13, 6585-6594.
Effect of Solvent Quality on the Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Complexes
Lu Li, Artem M Rumyantsev, Samanvaya Srivastava, Siqi Meng, Juan J de Pablo, Matthew V Tirrell. "Effect of Solvent Quality on the Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Complexes", Macromolecules, 2020.