Influence of the molecular structure of surface-attached poly(N-alkyl acrylamide) coatings on the interaction of surfaces with proteins, cells and blood platelets

Abstract

Blood protein adsorption and blood platelet adhesion onto surface-attached poly(alkylacrylamide) networks that exhibit small and systematic variations in chemical composition are investigated. The polymer coatings are generated by depositing a thin layer of benzophenone-group-containing copolymer onto a solid substrate, followed by photo crosslinking and simultaneous surface-attachment. The correlation of the swelling of the obtained surface-attached networks with the adsorption of blood proteins and cellular adhesion is studied. The swollen surface-attached layers are inert to blood proteins and platelet cells. These results suggest that the hydrogel-coated materials are promising candidates for the generation of hemocompatible surfaces.

Keywords: cell adhesion; hemocompatibility; hydrogels; platelet adhesion; poly(N-alkyl acrylamide); protein adsorption; surface-attached network; swelling thrombus.