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Protein Adsorption to Biomaterials

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Biological Interactions on Materials Surfaces

Abstract

Within milliseconds after biomaterials come in contact with a biological fluid such as blood, proteins begin to adhere to the surface through a process known as protein adsorption. Protein adsorption is initially strongly influenced by protein diffusion, but protein affinity for the surface becomes critically important and, over time, higher-affinity proteins can be replaced by lower-affinity proteins in a dynamic process. By the time cells arrive, the material surface has already been coated in a monolayer of proteins; hence, the host cells do not “see” the material but “see” instead a dynamic layer of proteins. Multiple parameters influence protein adsorption to a substrate surface including the chemical and physical properties of both the protein and the material surface, as well as the presence of other proteins on the surface.

Many methods have been developed in the last several decades to study protein adsorption to biomaterial surfaces. These new techniques provide information about the type and conformation of adsorbed proteins from multicomponent solutions such as blood serum. Nanomaterials as well as functional group immobilization and novel, stimuli-sensitive polymer surfaces have provided new alternatives for the study and modulation of protein adsorption, with insight into the mechanisms underlying protein adsorption and subsequent cell adhesion. However, a molecular-level understanding of all aspects of protein adsorption is still incomplete. The future of this field, however, is bright as new technologies offer great promise for further elucidation of protein adsorption.

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Abbreviations

AFM :

Atomic force microscopy

ATR-FTIR :

Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

ELISA :

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

FTIR :

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

HA :

Hydroxyapatite

IR :

Infrared

MALDI-ToF/MS :

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight massspectrometry

PEG:

Polyethylene glycol

PEO:

Polyethylene oxide

pI :

Isoelectric point

PLGA:

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)

PLLA:

Poly(l-lactic acid)

PNIPAAm:

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

RGD:

Arginine–glycine–aspartic acid

SAM:

Self-assembled monolayer

SEIRA:

Surface-enhanced infrared absorption

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

SPR:

Surface plasmon resonance

STM:

Scanning tunneling microscopy

ToF-SIMS:

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

XPS:

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

2D:

Two dimensional

3D:

Three dimensional

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA;

    David Richard Schmidt

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Heather Waldeck & Weiyuan John Kao

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  1. David Richard Schmidt
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  2. Heather Waldeck
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  3. Weiyuan John Kao
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    © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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    Schmidt, D.R., Waldeck, H., Kao, W.J. (2009). Protein Adsorption to Biomaterials. In: Puleo, D., Bizios, R. (eds) Biological Interactions on Materials Surfaces. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-98161-1_1

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