Chemistry Project Abstract
CHAMBER MINIATURIZATION TO SHORTEN ASSAY TIME AND MINIMIZE LIGAND AND RECEPTOR CONSUMPTION DURING PULSED ULTRAFILTRATION
Presenters:
Sri P. Vagvala, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL, 60506; vag@imsa.edu
Kevin Yang, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL, 60506; kyang@imsa.edu
Mentor:
Dr. Richard B. van Breemen, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 883 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60607
Abstract:
Since its development, pulsed ultrafiltration has been used as a method for both drug screening and protein-ligand binding analysis. The distingushing feature of pulsed ultrafiltration compared to traditional dialysis is the coupling of the ultrafiltration chamber to a spectrophotometer or mass spectrometer that allows elution profiles to be recorded. The main advantage of this method is the ability to study the interaction of ligand mixtures with macromolecular receptors. Applications of pulsed ultrafiltration address the bottlenecks in the process of drug discovery and development. Our project has been to miniaturize the ultrafiltration chamber in order to shorten assay time and minimize ligand and receptor consumption. One of the limitations on the size of the chamber has been the need to contain a magnetic stir bar which ensures homogeneity throughout the chamber. However, our chamber is built in the shape of a torus so that mixing will occur automatically as liquids flow in a circle through a ring driven by the tangential flow. Furthermore, ultrafiltration chambers have traditionally been made by machine shops, which is both extremely costly and time consuming. In contrast, our chamber was made through the molding of silicone elastomer in a hand-crafted aluminum cast. In short, we have developed a new kind of chamber that is easily manufactured with comparable or augmented efficiency.