Maleic Anhydride CopolymersA Versatile Platform for Molecular Biosurface Engineering

Abstract

A platform of thin polymer coatings was introduced for the functional modulation of immobilized bioactive molecules at solid/liquid interfaces. The approach is based on covalently attached alternating maleic acid anhydride copolymers with a variety of comonomers and extended through conversion of the anhydride moieties by hydrolysis, reaction with functional amines, and other conversions of the anhydride moieties. We demonstrate that these options permit control of the physicochemical constraints for bioactive molecules immobilized at interfaces to influence important performance characteristics of biofunctionalized materials for medical devices and molecular diagnostics. Examples concern the impact of the substrate-anchorage of fibronectin on the formation of cell-matrix adhesions, the orientation of endothelial cells according to lateral anti-adhesive micropatterns using grafted poly(ethylene oxide), and the spacer-dependent activity of immobilized synthetic thrombin inhibitors.

Immobilized enzymes affect biofilm formation

“…The maleic anhydride (MA) copolymer films were prepared as described elsewhere (Pompe et al 2003). Briefly, silicon wafers or glass slides were freshly oxidized in a mixture of aqueous solutions of NH 3 and H 2 O 2 and thereafter surface-modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) (Fluka, Germany) by immersing the freshly oxidized wafers in a solution of APTES in a 9:1 (v/v) mixture of 2-propanol and water followed by extensive rinsing with 2-propanol.…”

“…The copolymer solutions were spin-coated (Suess Microtec, Germany) onto the amino-functionalized wafers. Stable covalent binding of the polymer films was achieved by annealing at 120 °C to generate imide bonds with the aminosilane (Pompe et al 2003). The annealed samples were extensively rinsed to wash out polymer excess.…”

“…The properties of the films were investigated using a wide range of techniques, details can be found elsewhere (Pompe et al 2003;2005;Osaki and Werner 2003).…”

Electrostatic stretching of grafted maleic acid copolymer chains

“…Maleic acid copolymer films are versatile polymer platforms [1] that can be applied to study many aspects in biointerfacial science such as blood compatibility [2], protein adsorption [3], cell and tissue engineering [4,5], and supported lipid bilayer membranes [6]. This versatility stems from several facts: the maleic anhydride is highly reactive towards primary amines and alcohols, the maleic acid functionalities can be reversibly converted into maleic anhydride moieties, and the density of anhydride moieties can be adjusted by the choice of the comonomer [1].…”

“…This versatility stems from several facts: the maleic anhydride is highly reactive towards primary amines and alcohols, the maleic acid functionalities can be reversibly converted into maleic anhydride moieties, and the density of anhydride moieties can be adjusted by the choice of the comonomer [1]. The reactivity of the anhydride groups offers exciting options for the covalent attachment of proteins and other biomolecules while the hydrolyzed copolymers allow for the physical adsorption of biomolecules with different anchorage strength [1,3,5]. The kinetic and static swelling of maleic acid copolymer films in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.4 and pH 3) was subject of an earlier study [7].…”