Simple Models for Adsorption Kinetics and Their Correlation to the Adsorption of β-Lactoglobulin A and B

Understanding protein adsorption phenomena at solid surfaces

“…The adsorption kinetics that follow from such an overlap of cooperative and non-cooperative adsorption turned out to excellently describe adsorption kinetics measured with different experimental techniques [10,101,130,[142][143][144]153]. A characteristic feature of cooperative adsorption kinetics are an almost linear or even a convex shape before the saturation level is reached [151][152][153].…”

“…One example is the so called 'catalysis of desorption' by adsorbed neighbors primarily observed by Kurrat et al which accounts for rising desorption rates at higher surface coverages [139]. Further, even though mechanistically somewhat different, it has been shown that proteins approaching the surface may hit other pre-adsorbed proteins which, as a result, are released from the surface [10,140]. This could be understood as 'catalysis of desorption' by adsorbing proteins.…”

“…Although the observable cooperative adsorption kinetics are similar there are widely differing concepts how to mathematically express the coverage dependence of the adsorption rate constant including square-root [154], linear [10] , or exponential [155] functions.…”

“…(2) θ refers to the protein coverage, max θ is the maximum coverage level at which no more binding site is available, ) [205]. Consequently, the protein flux to the surface equals the protein adsorption rate leading to the following expression of the surface concentration which has been implemented in some works [10,93,205].…”

“…On artificial tissue scaffolds protein adsorption is the key factor for a proper vascularization [6] whereas on biomedical implants that are in contact with the blood stream protein adsorption can lead to thrombosis [7,8]. Further, protein adsorption can trigger adhesion of particles, bacteria or cells possibly promoting inflammation cascades, or fouling processes [9][10][11][12]. In the field of analytical sciences non-specific protein adsorption on sensor surfaces, protein chips, or assay platforms is a serious problem degrading the analytical performance of the device [13].…”