Fundamentals of protein interactions and their engineering applications

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Proteins have the ability to interact not only with themselves, but with other biological constituents and other materials. When these interactions are abnormal in humans, these interactions may cause disease, such as the neurodegenerative disease known as Huntington's. These interactions are also important in a large number of biochemical industrial processes ranging from fouling of membranes used in the treatment of drinking water to the production of degradable plastics and films to medical diagnostic systems. The objective of the proposed research is to apply non-destructive methods to follow protein interactions of various types. The study of these interactions is useful in that it will provide insight into the fundamentals governing these interactions and ways of either controlling them or reducing them depending on the situation. In the environment, proteins are part of what is referred to as natural organic matter or NOM. NOM is also a significant membrane foulant and there are many issues surrounding NOM. For example, membrane fouling in drinking water treatment adds to the cost borne by municipalities for water treatment as it requires that the membranes be periodically regenerated or cleaned. Either by monitoring or understanding the mechanisms of fouling approaches to minimize fouling (for example incorporation of appropriate pretreatment methods such as biofiltration) or optimization approaches can be applied. In many water treatment processes, disinfection is an important step. Unfortunately we now recognize that disinfection by-products (DBPs) from NOM can cause serious human health problems such as cancer or serve as endocrine disruptors. Having tools to monitor NOM constituents can provide insight into the components that contribute to DBPs and ways of minimizing their formation (for example, the use of flocculants prior to membrane filtration to remove the DBP's) and improve drinking water quality and human health.