Dr Petri Turunen

Fluorescence microscopy of biomimetic materials

Dr Turunen's research backround involves single-molecule catalysis studies of enzymes and synthetic catalysts using fluorescence microscopy, and development of advanced single-molecule detection schemes based on zero-mode waveguide (ZMW) metal nanostructures. His main research topic in the Rowan group at the AIBN is investigating mechanotransduction interactions between cells and extracelluar matrix (ECM). Part of his work is designing advanced fluorescence imaging and rheology facilities within the group that is required to measure cells response under applied stress in a controlled way and in high accuracy. His research further involves developing ZMW based detection schemes for single-molecule studies of single chain polymeric nanoparticle (SCPN) enzyme mimics. Dr Turunen received his MSc in Physics from the University of Eastern Finland in 2010. Searching for an interesting, multidisciplinary PhD project, he got interested in single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy and started his PhD in the Molecular Materials group at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 2011, under supervision of Prof. dr. Alan E. Rowan and Dr. Kerstin Blank. In September 2015 he continued in the same group as post-doctoral researcher. In 2017 he started as a Postdoctoral Research fellow with the Rowan group at the AIBN.

Collaborations

Dr Turunen has collaborations in various projects: Single chain polymeric nanoparticles  (Prof E.W. Meijer,  Dr Anja Palmans, Dr Yiliu Liu, Eindhoven University of Technology) , Single-molecule catalysis (Dr Kerstin Blank, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces), ZMW fabrication (Prof Johan Hofkens, Kherim Willems, University of Leuven)

Key Publications

1. ​T. Zisis, P.L. Freddolino, P. Turunen, M.C. van Teeseling,  A. E. Rowan and K. Blank, "Interfacial Activation of Candida antarctica Lipase B: Combined Evidence from Experiment and Simulation", Biochemistry , 54 (38), 5969-5979 (2015)
2. P. Turunen, A.E. Rowan and K. Blank, "Single Enzyme Kinetics with Fluorogenic Substrates: Lessons Learnt and Future Directions" FEBS Letters, 588 (19), 3553-3563 (2014)
3. P. Turunen, J. Kinnunen and J. Mutanen, "Modeling of Fluorescent Color Mixing by Regression analysis", Conference article, Color in Graphics, Imaging, and Vision (CGIV) Conference (2010), Society of Imaging and Technology, (2010)
4. V. Kontturi, P. Turunen, J. Uozumi and K.E. Peiponen, "Robust sensor for turbidity measurement from light scattering and absorbing liquids", Optics Letters, 34 (23), 3743-3745 (2009)
5. ​Y. Liu, P. Turunen, B. F. M. de Waal, K. G. Blank, A. E. Rowan, A. R. A. Palmans and E. W. Meijer, "Catalytic single-chain polymeric nanoparticles at work: from ensemble towards single-particle kinetics", Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 3, 609-618, (2018)
6. S. Ripp, P. Turunen, E. D. Minot, A. E. Rowan, K. G. Blank, "Deciphering design principles of FRET-based protease substrates: thermolysin-like protease from Geobacillus stearothermophilus as a test case", ACS Omega, 3 (4), 4148-4156 (2018)