Membrane proteins are the essential components of the cell that connect all living organisms to the outside world. The mechanisms by which various membrane proteins impart vital functions to natural bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) are poorly understood, particularly at the molecular and atomic scales. Although there is a critical need to understand the structure and function of novel membrane proteins, discoveries are limited by the substantial bottleneck of preparing and executing detailed experimental studies.
Objective: The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to establish new technologies and methodologies for coupling microelectronics with biological interfaces that will enable high throughput characterization of membrane proteins. To achieve this goal, we propose to design a lab-on-CMOS platform that integrates a 1000-element array of microfluidic planar-BLM chambers with embedded CMOS electrochemical instrumentation circuits. The proposed approaches will overcome significant technical barriers and contribute new mechanisms for silicon-to-protein communication pathways, enabling new directions for future research activities and commercial products.
Intellectual Merit: The proposed approaches for coupling microelectronics with biological interfaces would overcome significant technical barriers and contribute new mechanisms for silicon-to-protein communication pathways, enabling a new direction for future research activities and commercial products. These approaches will be incorporated into the proposed model instrument which will itself provide ground-breaking new capabilities for high throughput biomembrane characterization enabling significant subsequent advances in many fields of biology, nanomaterials, and medicine. The research efforts would also advance scientific and engineering knowledge in two primary areas.
Broader Impact: A model instrument will be developed with new capabilities for high throughput biomembrane characterization, enabling significant subsequent advances in many fields that could transform the frontiers of knowledge, advance our fundamental understanding of basic biological processes, and aid in the generation of new, engineered membrane proteins for sensor platforms, high throughput drug screening, and development of new medical diagnostics and disease treatments, all with wide-reaching benefits to society. Results of the multidisciplinary research will be integrated into education by direct involvement of graduate and undergraduate student researchers, development and delivery of a precollege STEM presentation, and participation in a novel project-based Multidisciplinary Bioprocessing Laboratory course. In addition, research experience will be provided for a secondary education science teacher who will integrate the experience into a teaching module for K-12 programs, including opportunities that target students from underrepresented groups. The results of this project will be disseminated through journal publications, conference presentations, and websites of the investigators and their associated research centers.
