AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Biomaterial Interfaces Wednesday Sessions
       Session BI-WeA

Paper BI-WeA8
Temperature Controlled Dehydration of Protein Films: Time-of-flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Study of Conformational Mobility of Proteins in Vacuum

Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 4:20 pm, Room Taos

Session: Proteins & Peptides on Surfaces
Presenter: H.P. Bui, University of Delaware
Authors: H.P. Bui, University of Delaware
T.P. Beebe, Jr., University of Delaware
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Once a biomaterial is implanted, a film of protein will adsorb onto the surface and it is this protein film that will dictate how the biomaterial will interact with the surrounding cells and tissue. Two strategies to increase the success rate of biomaterials are to passivate the surface so that it is resistant to protein adsorption, or to activate the surface to obtain a desired cell response. One method of activation is the grafting of one or more proteins onto the surface that direct specific cellular interactions. However a thorough understanding of the protein film’s composition, conformation and orientation is needed in the development of these advanced biomaterials. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry’s (TOF-SIMS) high surface specificity, analytical sensitivity and ability to provide long-range molecular information can be used to probe protein composition, conformation and orientation. In this study, we demonstrate that the use of temperature-programmed dehydration and principal component analysis can be used as a method of determining the conformation and orientation of protein films. We have found that TOF-SIMS is sensitive to the dehydration of the protein film and the accompanying conformational changes