PolyBall -- A New Adsorbent for the Removal Of Endotoxin
Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Major
Computer Engineering
Research Advisor
Barua, Sutapa
Advisor's Department
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Funding Source
Start-up, technology acceleration grant and S&T innovation
Abstract
In biotechnology industries, gram-negative bacteria are widely used for the production of therapeutic biomolecules including proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids. These biomolecules are recovered by cellular rupturing that leads to the release of a large quantity of bacterial cell-wall components containing endotoxins, also known as lipopolysaccharides (LPS). When the LPS contaminated products are administered to animals or humans even in small quantities (0.05–0.1 ng/ml), a systemic inflammatory reaction can occur, leading to multiple pathophysiological effects, such as septic shock, tissue injury, and lethality. Removing undesirable endotoxins from solutions is thus an important aim in the pharmaceutical industry and in clinical practice. Conventional treatments such as coagulation and membrane filtration are adequate for removing bacteria cells and debris but not effective for removing dissolved endotoxins to a significant extent. Therefore, it is highly desirable and also the focus of this project to develop a biodegradable and inexpensive means that can tackle both aspects of endotoxin removal.
Biography
Dibbya Barua is a Freshman Engineering student who would like to gain research experience in data analysis. His research interests include computational programming by virtual visualization of a specific research problem. Through this OURE project, he will develop software programs to understand the mechanisms of endotoxin binding with polymer nanoparticles. He is a recipient of several awards that include S&T's opening week car design, Regional Math Olympiads and 1st place in High School Science Fair.
Research Category
Engineering
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Award
Engineering poster session, Second place
Location
Upper Atrium
Presentation Date
16 Apr 2019, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
PolyBall -- A New Adsorbent for the Removal Of Endotoxin
Upper Atrium
In biotechnology industries, gram-negative bacteria are widely used for the production of therapeutic biomolecules including proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids. These biomolecules are recovered by cellular rupturing that leads to the release of a large quantity of bacterial cell-wall components containing endotoxins, also known as lipopolysaccharides (LPS). When the LPS contaminated products are administered to animals or humans even in small quantities (0.05–0.1 ng/ml), a systemic inflammatory reaction can occur, leading to multiple pathophysiological effects, such as septic shock, tissue injury, and lethality. Removing undesirable endotoxins from solutions is thus an important aim in the pharmaceutical industry and in clinical practice. Conventional treatments such as coagulation and membrane filtration are adequate for removing bacteria cells and debris but not effective for removing dissolved endotoxins to a significant extent. Therefore, it is highly desirable and also the focus of this project to develop a biodegradable and inexpensive means that can tackle both aspects of endotoxin removal.
