(492d) Membrane-Based Biological Modeling: Frontiers and Opportunities

The most recent developments in genetic engineering and biotechnology, allow us to produce, pharmaceuticals, proteins, and vaccines, and in general several bioproducts in response to today’s worldwide needs. In this context the actual technical bottleneck resides in separation techniques able to reach products with ultrapure and stable conformations. Purification and recycling still count as nearly half of the production costs, so separation techniques with high efficiency and sustainability are critical for the whole production chain: a desirable answer to this issue resides in membrane technology.

As an appropriate engineering way of action, membrane techniques can be fully modeled to gain a great aid in terms of deep phenomena investigation and fast and precise process design, where two- and three-dimensional modeling can be appreciated by process designers due to the use of fast computing algorithms.

In this context, various natural systems can be modeled in analogy with membrane-based problems. For instance, the diffusion problems of active compounds and drugs from topical pharmacological products (creams, lotions) through the skin, or the adhesion and permanence of viruses on human skin - in different environments and substrate conditions - can be finely modeled. The selectiveness of the migration of various compounds through the different layers of the epidermis can give a clear view of the actual diffusion times of skin-adsorbed drugs and of the effective dangerousness of pathogens attached on the skin itself. These data could give critical feedback to the whole pharmaceutical chain to improve the effectiveness of topical-use drugs and disinfectants.

Here, a preliminary 3D model of the diffusion of hydrocortisone through skin layers, where diffusion is mainly regulated by different diffusion coefficients, is presented. Additionally, to assess the risks associated with virus adhesion to skin following the application of hydrocortisone, both XDLVO modeling and Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) measurements are conducted at various time intervals.