AVS 51st International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Monday Sessions
       Session BI-MoA

Paper BI-MoA8
The Surface Analysis and Quantification of the Electro-sprayed Fibronectin on Biocompatible Materials

Monday, November 15, 2004, 4:20 pm, Room 210D

Session: Protein-Surface Interactions
Presenter: M.J. Wang, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Authors: M.J. Wang, Queen Mary University of London, UK
D.A. Lee, Queen Mary University of London, UK
M.D. Paine, Queen Mary University of London, UK
D.L. Bader, Queen Mary University of London, UK
J.P.W. Stark, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Correspondent: Click to Email
Electrospray is employed as a novel technique to incorporate biomolecules on substrates because it provides the possibility of soft landing the biomolecules. The interactions between biomolecules and substrates are, first of all, examined by surface analysis techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) to identify the efficiency of electrospray and examine the morphology of the biomolecules. Moreover, the immunofluorescent methods provide the possibilities of gaining both quantitative and qualitative information. Fibronectin (FN) was chosen as the target molecule to be sprayed due to its functionalities such as promoting proliferation, differentiation of cells, also to promote the cell-cell and cell-substratum adhesion. Silicon wafer and medical grade stainless steel are chosen as target substrates due to their surface energy and biocompatibility. Both FTIR and AFM analysis show the effective landing of fibronectin via electrospray. The landed fibronectin shows the characteristic peaks of amide I and amide II compositions of fibronectin. Moreover, the linear relationship for the concentration of fibronectin versus the intensity of characteristic peaks of fibronectin by FTIR indicates that FTIR could serve as a semi-quantitative technique for examining the fibronectin. On the other hand, the AFM can detect the existence of Fibronectin up to the single molecule scale. The image shows the double strains of FN which is similar as the morphology of FN found in reference (Ref). Moreover, by immunofluorescence analysis, the efficiency of using electrospray to deposit FN on the substrates can be identified. And a quantitative assessment of the biomolecules on the substrates can be provided. These results provide potential possibilities of patterning array and assemblies of tissue which could be applied in the drug discovery and biosensors fields.