Project 31:
In many terrestrial situations, disinfectants are used to clean inert surfaces of microorganisms. These disinfectants themselves often pose significanthealth risks for humans which can be mitigated with appropriate personal protective equipment, by increasing air flow during application or by wearing amask, or other strategies. In confined spaces, like space missions, such controlled deployment of a disinfectant is not as easy. Therefore, thedevelopment of new materials more amenable to such situations is desired. Commonly used disinfectants are bleach, alcohols, hydrogen peroxide, etc.which tend to volatile and broad spectrum (they affect many organisms) which means these materials permeate the environment where they are usedand have wide-ranging ramifications. We propose using ionic liquids and related materials as surface disinfectants. Ionic liquids are comprised of salts,so they inherently have a low vapor pressure and chemical modifications to their structure can make them highly tunable to have specific effects. Thisproject entails testing the effects of various ionic liquids on viral proteins to test for disruptions of protein structure.
This project will entail a student performing molecular dynamics simulations of important proteins for the function of microorganisms with and withoutionic liquids. The simulations without the ionic liquid will be analyzed for normal behavior of the protein, which will be contrasted with those with the ionicliquid to see how protein structure is disrupted. In the end, it will be useful to contrast multiple proteins with and without ionic liquid treatment for multipleionic liquid formulations. The student is expected to work about 10 hours per week.
This work will result in data that provides new information about possible disinfectants for tightly enclosed environments. We expect there will be wideinterest in the scientific community, and we plan to publish the outcomes in a peer-reviewed biophysics journal. Additionally, the student will be expectedto present their results at the end of year Undergraduate research symposium as well as other dissemination opportunities that might arise.