Abstract Proposal No: 9712486 Proposal Type: Investigator Initiated Principal Investigator: Robert D. Tanner Affiliation: Vanderbilt University This grant is awarded through the Separations and Purification Program sub-element of the Interfacial, Transport and Separations Program of the Chemical and Transport Systems Division. The principal investigator is Dr. Robert Tanner from Vanderbilt University. The research involves development of a technique for protein separations using foam and bubble fractionation. While it is well known that bubbling a gas through aqueous protein-containing solutions leads to protein adsorption on the bubble interface and transport with the bubble to the solution surface, exploitation of the phenomenon to extract proteins from solution has been prevented due several inherent problems. Most important amongst them is the possible denaturation of the protein either as a result of protein unfolding at the gas-water interface or as a result of shear-induced denaturation as a consequence of bubble burst. The process is difficult to study and the parameters that govern the extraction of proteins with maximal retention of structure/function have not yet been elucidated. The research seeks to conduct a systematic study of the phenomenon and determine the variables that affect protein extraction, selectivity and retention of structure/function. The research would contribute to the fundamental understanding of proteins at liquid-gas interfaces. From a technological perspective, the studies could lead to defining operating conditions that result in protein extraction with retention of structure/function. The method proposed is very inexpensive and could have significant applications in the extraction and recovery of industrial enzymes.
