| AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session BI-TuA |
| Session: | Biofouling |
| Presenter: | M. Holmberg, Technical University of Denmark |
| Authors: | M. Holmberg, Technical University of Denmark X. Hou, Technical University of Denmark |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Competitive protein adsorption from human serum and protein mixtures onto unmodified and plasma polymerised polymer surfaces has been investigated using radioactive multi-labelling. By using several different isotopes it is possible to monitor several proteins simultaneously and thereby analyse the interaction between the different proteins during adsorption processes.
The outcome of competitive protein adsorption depends on both surface and protein characteristics, as well as parameters such as protein concentration and adsorption sequence. In this study surface characteristics of polymer surfaces have been modified by using plasma polymerisation where the polymer surface becomes more hydrophilic. Modified surfaces show non-fouling characteristics and have shown to be stable in buffer solutions for at least 24 hours. By changing the sequence of proteins introduced to a surface, different outcome from an adsorption series with the same proteins can be observed and by changing the internal ratio between different proteins concentration, different proteins will dominate the surface during adsorption.
Even though some polymer surfaces show protein monolayer adsorption behaviour and quite low amount of proteins adsorbed, other surfaces loose there resistance to protein adsorption as the protein concentration increases, and on hydrophobic polymer surface one can even see a very thick and cross linked protein multilayer formed. The tendency for protein multilayer formation is also influenced by other proteins present during adsorption and protein characteristics, where some proteins seem to be more fragile during adsorption to hydrophobic polymer surfaces than others.
The objective of the study is two-fold; to investigate basic processes and concepts during competitive protein adsorption and to contribute to development of polymer based biomaterials for use in contact with whole blood.