PPE, Made of PLA crossed linked with PGA, Impregnated With Coated
Tryptamine, On Non-porous Silica Nanoparticles, in the presence of
Nanoemulsion
Evelina Cohn Ph.D. Dr. Syiang Zheng, Andrei Budu
The Introduction
We propose a Personal Protection Equipment PPE made of poly lactic acid (PLA) cross linked
with  poly glutamic acid (PGA), impregnated with coated tryptamine in nonporous silica
nanoparticles in the presence of a nanoemulsion. The Ebola virus will be destroyed by two
actions: First 8N8 nanoemulsion (Hamouda et al., 1999) will destroy the capsid of Ebola
followed by the inhibition of tryptophanase by tryptamine, which will impact the UGA codon,
thus inhibiting the protein translation of the Ebola RNA.
The idea of the product evolved from a highly research into the literature of Dr. Evelina Cohn
from EVCO Scientific and has been promoted in the www.openideo.com, website. The proposal
has certain theoretical modifications for better understanding of the processes following the
comments from the web professionals and the team. There is a high diversity of scientists
involved in this project starting with Dr. Syiang Zheng, from Penn state specialized in
nanotechnology and fluid physics, Dr. Evelina Cohn from EVCO Scientific, specialized in
Biochemistry and Microbiology, followed by Israeli team specialized in suit design. We are
confident that with the aid of some private companies involved in the production of the PLA and
PGA, such as Synbra Technology from Netherlands and Freda Biotechnology, China and with
the aid of Penn State University from Pennsylvania USA, we will be able to produce the aerosol
for the impregnation of PPE. The aerosol can be prototyped at Penn State Laboratory and then
the mass production can follow afterwards. Several laboratory tests should be performed onto
impregnated material versus Ebola before actually going to produce those suits. Therefore the
time frame should definitely include laboratory tests. If we have financial source we assume that
in 6 months we will be ready with the lab testing. The production should immediately follows.
Taking everything into consideration we assume that $ 200,000 /6 months will be enough to
cover the laboratory spray production, PLA material necessary for testing and the laboratory tests
for confirmation of the theoretical approach. The beginning of the production, will be also
included by finding the suitable Companies for the fabrication of the prototype.
The Organization Description
The non- profit Organization EVCO Scientific is actively looking for finding a cure in Multiple
Sclerosis and is interested in helping people around the world by using knowledge and expertise
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in resolving different challenges. Coordinated closely with Penn State University and other
private Companies such as Lampire Biological Laboratories, the Company will be able to design
a personalized blood test for Multiple Sclerosis using novel glycoproteins established by Dr.
Cohn in human sera. Penn State is a well-established University and Dr. Siyang Zheng is well
known for his prototypes in blood testing. This section will be develop in greater detail when
invited to submit a full proposal.
The Statement of Need
This funding will be used for developing and laboratory testing of a PPE designed from PLA
material, crossed linked with PGA and impregnated with coated tryptamine for the healthcare
professionals who work with Ebola patients. By using these suits, healthcare professionals, will
easier move and perform the task required near Ebola patients. In addition, the two protection
layers of the impregnation spray will help restraining the Ebola virus. The results will be less
people infected by the virus, non- fear about performing the tasks around people suffering of
Ebola, higher protection in areas with high impact of Ebola. We will be able to provide
equipment after 6 months of testing, in all areas affected by Ebola such as, Africa and other part
of the world.
The Methodology
PLA and  PGA
Our proposed PPE has two components: one is the backbone material, made of PLA which is
cross linked with  PGA at certain concentration, producing a suitable porosity and
hydrophilicity. The second component is a filling spray, which will impregnate the pores of the
material with coated tryptamine in non-porous silica nanoparticles, in the nanoemulsion, 8N8.
Biodegradable polymer, PLA is a cost effective plastic which can be woven into
fibers or foamed with the desired air content. Its relative low water update is compensated for by
including the super hydrophilic gamma PGA.
Fig.1. PLA fiber and mat made of PLA fiber with  PGA
As for safety of γPGA, it is a polymer of glutamic acid γPGA a safe amino acid consumed by all
living beings. It is an edible polymer made by the bacterium Bacillus subtilis in the fermentation
of 'Natto' a traditional Japanese food made by fermentation of Soybean.
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The Company Synbra Technology (www.synbratechnology.nl) from Netherlands has the
world's first Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA) based product and world's first bio-based foamed product to
receive this certification. BioFoam® has a different environmental profile over traditional oil
based plastics. It can be completely biodegraded, composted or used for feedstock for recycling.
In the same time, Shandong Freda Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (www.fredabiotech.com) is a provider
for gamma PGA. We are confident that upon request one of these companies will provide this
combination of the material, for a very efficient PPE.
THE AEROSOL
It was shown that nanoemulsion 8N8, developed by Hamouda et. al., 1999, has a unique nonirritant topical antimicrobial activity against bacteria, enveloped viruses and fungi (Hamouda et
al., 2000). 8N8 is made of an oil phase by tributyl phosphate, soybean oil, and Triton X-100, and
heating it at 82°C for one hour. It was then mixed with deionized water (diH2O) with a
reciprocating syringe pump (Baker et al., 2000). The particle size obtained of the nanoemulsion
was in the range of 400–800 nm (Hamouda et al., 2000). The discrete droplets obtained fuse with
bacterial cell walls or viral envelopes destabilizing the organism’s lipid envelope and initiate
disruption of pathogens (Baker et al., 2000). In our case we assume that the capsid will be
destroyed. The RNA will be released and then tryptamine may inhibit tryptophanase (Freudlich
and Lichstein, 1961)
Thrytophanase is an enzyme which reversible hydrolyses tryptophan to indole, pyruvate and
ammonia. This enzyme works together with tryptophan synthetase with respect to tryptophan
concentration. It was shown in the literature that expression of tryptophanase in E. coli, induced
elevated levels of tryptophan (Gish and Yanofsky, 1993). Further tryptophan induction prevents
Rho factor-dependent termination of protein translation (Konnan and Yanofsky 2000). In another
words tryptophan deficiency may accelerate the stop codon to perform, thus stopping the protein
translation and finally protein synthesis. We hypothesize that at the level of RNA translation of
proteins, E. coli and Ebola may be similar and tryptophan may play an important role in both,
thus stopping or inducting the protein translation according to tryptophan level.
Silica nano particles have shown great promise in Nano Medicine because of their excellent biocompatibility, ease of Silane chemical coating, hydrophilic surface favored protracted
circulation, affordable costs and easy scalability to actual production. Thus, Tryptamine can be
incorporated in to silica nano particle using sol-gel method.
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Advantages:
Light and easy to wear PPE
PPE is sealed with Velcro and PLA combination which confer maximum protection.
PLA is as cheap as $1/square meter
Easy to be sprayed with Tryptamine incorporated in nanoemulsion.
Sophisticated, yet simple procedure to kill Ebola on contact.
Fig. 2. PPE made of PLA crossed linked with  PGA, impregnated with coated tryptamine on non-porous
silica nanoparticles, in the presence of nanoemulsion
References
1. Baker Jr., J. R., Wright, D. C., Hayes, M. M., Hamouda, T., Brisker, J. (2000) : Method
for inactivating bacteria including bacterial spores. U. S. Patent # 6,015,832.
2. Freudlich M, Lichstein HC. (1962). Tryptophanase-Tryptophan Synthetase System in E.
Coli. I Effect of Tryptophan and Related Compounds. J. Bacteriol. 84: 979-987.
3. Gish K, Yanofsky C. (1993) Inhibition of expression of the tryptophanase operon in
Escherichia coli by extrachromosomal copies of the tna leader region. J Bacteriol. 175
:3380-7.
4. Hamouda, T., Hayes, M. M., Cao, Z., Tonda, R., Johnson, K., Wright, D. C., Brisker, J.,
Baker Jr., J. R. (1999): A novel surfactant nanoemulsion with broad-spectrum sporicidal
activity against Bacillus species. J. Inf. Dis. 180: 1939–1949.
5. Hamouda T, Myc A, Donovan B, Shih AY, Reuter JD, Baker JR, Jr. (2001) A novel
surfactant nanoemulsion with a unique non-irritant topical antimicrobial activity against
bacteria, enveloped viruses and fungi. Microbiol. Res. 156: 1–7
6. Konan, K.V., Yanofsky C. (2000). Rho-dependent transcription termination in the tna
operon of Escherichia coli: roles of the boxA sequence and the rut site. J. Bacteriol.
182:3981-3988
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