(538b) Preparation and Characterization of the Peptide Modified Regenerated Cellulose Membrane for Binding H1N1 Virus

Preparation and characterization of the peptide
modified regenerated cellulose membrane for binding H1N1 virus

Peiyong
Qin, M. Nazmul Karim*

Department of Chemical Engineering,
Texas Technology University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

    
Abstract:  Flu is a contagious respiratory illness, killing an estimated
36,000 people in the United States. Therefore, there is a real need to develop
novel purification technologies to speed up the vaccine production and
research. Our study is aimed at the preparation of regenerated cellulose
membrane modified with peptide as a possible specific ligand
to attach to the influenza virus.  The peptide modified regenerated
cellulose membrane was prepared by epoxy method. To characterize the membrane,
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) was used to observe the membrane structure, and
measure the adhesion force between the nano-gold
coated tip and the membrane. For epoxy group grafting, the regenerated
cellulose membrane was modified at various pH, epichlorohydrin(EPI)
concentration, dimethyl sulfoxide
(DMSO) concentration, and reaction temperatures. High pH, EPI concentration,
and temperature can enhance the grafting process. However, when higher than
critical values of reaction temperature and pH are used, the regenerated
cellulose membrane is hydrolyzed. For peptide grafting, the grafting content
was about from 0.02 mg/cm² to 0.06 mg/cm² of Met-Enkephalin peptide at various buffers. In spite of the high
grafting peptide amount, the peptide activity is destroyed at high reaction pH,
which resulted in the decreased A/WSN/33 virus attachment in Fig 1. The AFM
adhesion force curve was used to explain the behavior of the peptide modified
regenerated cellulose membrane. The peptide modified regenerated cellulose
membrane was also analyzed by FTIR.

Fig. 1  Attachment of WSN virus using the
regenerated cellulose membrane modified with peptide under different buffer.