Earth resources are limited and so is the ability for humanity to grow on Earth. The impact of
detergent chemistry goes beyond green chemistry but the holistic impact on Earths resources is
rarely understood. To guide future research towards a holistic detergent design, Urner lab
leverages the planetary boundary framework to assess systematically the impact of detergent
chemistry on the transgression of Earth’s resources. Our results identified detergents as key
ingredients in cosmetic, cleaning, sanitizer formulations with the shortcoming of solubilizing
hydrophobic matter with low selectivity. This leads to cell damage and side effects, like skin
irritation, allergies or antimicrobial resistance. To align detergent chemistry with consumer health,
we established ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents with surprising advantages. Compared to
established ionic detergents, like sodium dodecyl sulphate or dodecyltrimethylammonium
bromide, related ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents have low critical micelle concentration values,
low cytotoxicity, excellent hard water tolerance and good solubilizing properties. Ionic/non-ionic
hybrid detergents will enable the development of cleaning products that demand detergents with
scalable cell compatibility, while doing the job of cleaning applications. Furthermore, in context
with medical research, we designed non-ionic hybrid detergents to control the stabilization of
functional membrane proteins and their interactions with membrane lipids in biochemical assays.
Membrane proteins are vital molecular machines and targets for most approved drugs on the
market. A detailed analysis of their function and drug binding in context with membrane lipids is
crucial for drug discovery but exceptionally challenging. Standard detergents poorly replicate
relevant membrane lipid compositions surrounding proteins and limit the transfer of drug binding
effects obtained on purified proteins into patients. To overcome this innovation hurdle, we
designed hybrid detergents with scalable solubilization properties. The trick is to fuse headgroups
of non-ionic detergents to precisely tune polarity and conical shape of related hybrid detergents.
Our chemical design led to first detergent micelles that gradually remove or retain protein-lipid
interactions during purification from membranes. Surprisingly, our hybrid detergent technology
enabled new possibilities for down-stream applications in membrane protein drug discovery and
uncovered a new type of biomolecular interaction between proteins and glycolipids in cell walls of
Gram-negative bacteria with relevance for antibiotic research. The chemistry of hybrid detergents
delivers exciting avenues for biocompatible consumer products and medical research.
07/11/2025
November 7th, 2025 at 11:00
Aula B (CU018 –Plesso Tecce)