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Vikram's Project Page - RISE Summer 2008 |
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Intern: Vikram Karandikar, Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University
Mentor: Ian Shieh
Faculty Supervisor: Joseph Zasadzinski
Department: Chemical Engineering |
VISUALIZING ALBUMIN INHIBITION IN LUNG SURFACTANT USING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY
Lung surfactant (LS) consists of proteins and lipids that occupy the air-water interface of the alveoli. By adsorbing
to the interface, LS drastically reduces surface tension in the alveoli, allows effortless breathing, and prevents
alveolar collapse. Dysfunction and inhibition of LS is one of the symptoms of acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS), a condition with a 50% mortality rate suffered by nearly 150,000 people annually. LS inhibition results
from many different factors, with lung trauma being one. Trauma can allow plasma to enter the alveoli, which leads
to albumin—a protein abundant in blood—adsorbing to the air-water interface in place of LS. Albumin inhibits LS
function and can cause ARDS by occupying the interface. However, the reversal of albumin inhibition has been
previously shown to occur in vitro with the administration of certain concentrations of polymers such as
polyethylene glycol (PEG) or chitosan. Through the use of confocal microscopy, this project seeks to directly
visualize the inhibition reversal mechanisms of PEG and chitosan when each is individually introduced with LS. By
appropriately tagging LS, albumin, and the polymer of interest, confocal imaging allows us to track the behavior of
the different components and obtain a clear view of the processes at hand.
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