Protein adsorption is considered to be the most important factor of the interaction between polymeric biomaterials and body fluids or tissues. Water-mediated hydrophobic and hydration forces as well as electrostatic interactions are believed to be the major factors of protein adsorption. A systematic analysis of various monolayer systems has resulted in general guidelines, the so-called "Whitesides rules". These concepts have been successfully applied for designing various protein-resistant surfaces and are being studied to expand the understanding of protein-material interactions beyond existing limitations. Theories on the mechanisms of protein adsorption are constantly being improved due to the fast-developing analytical technologies. This Review is aimed at improving these empirical guidelines with regard to present theoretical and analytical advances. Current analytical methods to test mechanistic hypotheses and theories of protein-surface interactions will be discussed. Special focus will be given to state-of-the-art bioinert and biospecific coatings and their applications in biomedicine.

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A swarm of microrobots propels through the vitreous humor of the eye and reaches a small targeted spot on the retina.

A rapid and universal approach for multifunctional material coatings was developed based on a mussel-inspired dendritic polymer. This new kind of polymer mimics not only the functional groups of mussel foot proteins (mfps) but also their molecular weight and molecular structure. The large number of catechol and amine groups set the basis for heteromultivalent anchoring and crosslinking. The molecular weight reaches 10 kDa, which is similar to the most adhesive mussel foot protein mfp-5. Also, the dendritic structure exposes its functional groups on the surface like the folded proteins. As a result, a very stable coating can be prepared on virtually any type of material surface within 10 min by a simple dip-coating method, which is as fast as the formation of mussel byssal threads in nature.