The Oprah blog and the Detroit Free Press published interviews with Christina Shinouskis ’82, a chemical engineering alumna known as “the cup lady,” who designs interior storage spaces in vehicles for General Motors. See Freep and Shinouskis.
Friday, March 23, 2:00 p.m.
Chemical Sciences & Engineering 211
Dr. Cornelius F. Ivory, Paul M. Hohenschuh Distinguished Professor
Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
Washington State University
Concentration and isolation of low-abundance proteins from serum using microchip isotachophoresis
Isotachophoresis (ITP) is used to isolate very low-abundance basic proteins from the high-abundance proteins in serum and then concentrate them about 20,000-fold. This is done using a PMMA microchip which contains a reducing union that decreases the channel’s cross-sectional area by a factor of 100. Proteins migrating in ITP “peak” mode will concentrate 200-fold in the approach channel, and then will concentrate another 100-fold as they pass through the reducing union.
This paper reports both the experimental application of ITP under basic,acidic and neutral conditions as well as the 3D numerical simulation of ITP in this type of chip. In particular, several challenges had to be met in each different ITP system including formation of carbonate ion at alkaline pH and the adsorption or precipitation of serum proteins at low pH.
Refreshments will be served