AVS 47th International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Wednesday Sessions
       Session BI-WeA

Paper BI-WeA8
Analysis of Protein Absorption on PEG-covered Silica Surfaces by ATR-FTIR

Wednesday, October 4, 2000, 4:20 pm, Room 202

Session: Non-fouling Surfaces
Presenter: A. Stacy, University of California, Santa Barbara
Authors: N.A. Alcantar, University of California, Santa Barbara
A. Stacy, University of California, Santa Barbara
J. Au, University of California, Santa Barbara
T.L. Kuhl, University of California, Davis
E.S. Aydil, University of California, Santa Barbara
J.N. Israelachvili, University of California, Santa Barbara
Correspondent: Click to Email
The most desirable characteristic of biomaterials is their capability to reject protein adhesion because non-specific adsorption of proteins to a surface of an artificial material enhances atypical development of cells. Surfaces covered with polyethylene glycol (PEG, OH-(CH@sub 2@-CH@sub 2@-O)@sub n@-H) have been shown to enhance protein rejection, nonimmunogenecity and nonantigenicity. In order to produce a generic biocompatible surface coating, we developed and analyzed a direct method for grafting PEG onto amorphous water plasma activated silica surfaces or films. In this paper, we investigated the biocompatibility of this PEG coating by measuring its ability to resist protein adsorption with attenuated total internal reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. PEG-coated silica surfaces, water plasma treated silica surfaces, and bare silica films were all exposed to several concentration solutions of fibrinogen and human serum albumin (HSA) at 37°C and pH=7.4 (imitating physiological conditions). We measured the protein adhesion to each of these three surfaces. We found that the surface covered with PEG had very little protein adsorption. Conversely, the bare silica surface has relatively high amounts of adsorbed protein. The surface treated with water plasma (but no polymer) adsorbed some proteins falling in between the bare silica and PEG-coated surfaces. PEG-covered silica coatings can be applied to protect diverse materials having different chemistries and shapes.