Nanoporous silicon membranes for protein purification

描述（由申请人提供）：在这个I期申请中，我们将研究生产用于蛋白质纯化产品的高产多孔纳米晶硅（pnc-Si）膜的可行性。由这种材料制成的膜是一项突破性技术，比传统和其他纳米孔膜薄1000倍，具有可调孔径（5-100纳米）和精确分布。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进步，对细胞成分和蛋白质的研究已上升到新的水平。然而，这些工具通常仅限于大型研究中心的核心设施，远离普通生物医学科学家的工作台面或日常工作空间。实验室分离和样品制备工具没有跟上主要核心设施的发展步伐。这在一定程度上是由于基础膜技术几十年来没有显著进步，仍然最适合于浓缩或微米级分离。Pnc-Si膜将实现消耗性分离产品，弥合台式工具和核心设施设备之间的差距。在这个项目中，我们将测试可扩展生产pnc-Si膜的可行性，该膜具有可复制的孔径，具有足够的破裂压力，可以集成到可堆叠的膜模块中。我们将对pnc-Si膜进行串联蛋白浓缩和纯化实验，并对工业标准离心自旋管进行基准测试。第二阶段的努力将制造具有精确截止点的可堆叠模块，这些模块可以在一个通道中分离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功能。

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.