Nanoporous silicon membranes for protein purification

描述（由申请人提供）：在本I期申请中，我们将研究生产用于蛋白质纯化产品的高产率多孔纳米晶硅（pnc-Si）膜的可行性。由这种材料制成的膜是一项突破性技术，比传统和其他纳米多孔膜薄1000倍，具有可调的孔径（5-100 nm）和精确的分布。pnc-Si膜只有几十纳米厚，没有内部空隙，导致滤液损失最小，渗透性高，非常适合快速精确的生物分子分离。随着二维液相色谱和毛细管电泳系统等分离工具的发展，细胞组分和蛋白质的研究已经上升到新的水平。然而，这些工具通常仅限于主要研究中心的核心设施，远离普通生物医学科学家的工作台或日常工作空间。实验室分离和样品制备工具还没有跟上主要核心设施的发展步伐.这部分是由于基础膜技术在几十年内没有显著进步，仍然最适合浓缩或微米级分离。Pnc-Si膜将使可消耗的分离产品能够弥合台式工具和核心设施设备之间的差距。在这个项目中，我们将测试可规模化生产pnc-Si膜的可行性，其孔径可重现，具有足够的爆破压力，可集成到可堆叠的膜组件中。我们将使用串联的pnc-Si膜进行蛋白质浓缩和纯化实验，并以工业标准离心旋转管为基准。第二阶段的努力将制造可堆叠的模块，具有精确的截止值，可以在一次通过中破碎和浓缩复杂的蛋白质混合物，目标是提供具有膜过滤速度和简单性的色谱特征。 公共卫生相关性：SiMPore的pnc-Si膜是一项突破性技术，比传统和其他纳米多孔膜薄1000倍，渗透率高100倍以上，孔径分布可控。这些特性使得蛋白质的分离和纯化具有液相色谱法的精度，但具有膜过滤器的速度和简单性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this Phase I application we will examine the feasibility of producing high yield porous nanocrystalline silicon (pnc-Si) membranes for protein purification products. Membranes made of this material are a breakthrough technology, 1000x thinner than conventional and other nanoporous membranes, with tunable pore sizes (5-100 nm) and precise distributions. At just tens of nanometers thick, pnc-Si membranes have no internal void spaces, resulting in minimal loss of filtrate and high permeability, making them ideally suited for rapid and precise biomolecule separations. Research of cellular components and proteins has risen to new levels with advances in separation tools such as two-dimensional liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis systems. These tools, however, are typically limited to core facilities at major research centers away from the bench top or the daily workspace of the average biomedical scientist. Laboratory separation and sample- prep tools haven't kept pace with advances in major core facilities. This is in part due to the fact that basic membrane technology has not significantly advanced in decades, still suited best to concentration or micron-scale separations. Pnc-Si membranes will enable consumable separation products that bridge the gap between bench top tools and core facility equipment. In this project we will test the feasibility of scalable production of pnc-Si membranes at reproducible pore sizes with adequate burst pressures to be integrated into stackable membrane modules. We will perform protein concentration and purification experiment using pnc-Si membranes in series and benchmark against industry standard centrifugal spin-tubes. Phase II efforts will fabricate stackable modules with precise cut-offs that fractionate and concentration complex protein mixtures in one pass with the goal of offering chromatography features with the speed and simplicity of membrane filtration. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: SiMPore's pnc-Si membranes are a breakthrough technology 1000x thinner than conventional and other nanoporous membranes, with permeability more than 100 times greater and controllable tight pore size distributions. These characteristics enable protein separation and purification with the precision of liquid chromatography, but the speed and simplicity of a membrane filter.