Controlling Naturally-Derived Polymer Enzymatic Degradation: A Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Approach

项目摘要 生物材料植入物是一种天然或合成材料，可以放置在人体内以改善人体健康。 以多种方式，包括将药物输送到身体的目标区域，愈合伤口，以及维持 器官功能。重要的是，植入物在完成其功能之前不会破裂。为 例如，拔牙后的缝线可以在几周内溶解，但髋关节置换植入物应该是 能够保持完好无损多年。当这些植入物降解太快或不够快时，并发症如 因为疼痛和感染可能会发生。我们研究的目标是解决开发不同类型植入物的需求 通过制造具有一系列降解时间的生物材料来实现应用。本研究中提出的材料 都是由丝绸制成的，这是一种自然衍生的材料，与身体相互作用，没有负面影响。时丝 被放置在体内，它会被酶降解。我们研究的目标是创造一系列丝绸材料 降解率不同。我们的方法是通过改变酶来控制酶如何进入丝绸表面 丝膜表面的原子和分子。将被用来改变化学成分的方法 丝绸表面是等离子体增强化学气相沉积(PECVD)，这是一种用于在丝绸表面施加 在丝绸上涂上特定类型的原子。丝膜表面的化学成分、润湿性和形貌都会 在PECVD前后进行评估，以确定材料的任何变化。继PECVD之后，丝绸薄膜和 未经处理的对照薄膜将被称重并暴露在含有酶的溶液中。胶片将从 溶液，干燥，并再次称重，以测量材料的降解量。具体目标 建议的工作是使用PECVD来定制丝绸表面的化学成分，从而控制酶如何 与丝绸材料相互作用。这一提议的中心假设是双重的1)引入 丝绸薄膜上的疏水涂层会降低酶降解的速度，以及2)引入一种 真丝薄膜的亲水性涂层会增加酶的降解速度。这一假设是有根据的 酶在丝素膜表面的吸附能力，最终控制酶的降解 对这部电影的评价。这一提议有望产生一种PECVD方法来定制丝绸的降解率 通过控制薄膜的化学成分。我们的战略有望为一系列植入物应用提供信息。 这项工作将有助于解决我们的长期研究目标：了解调谐如何自然衍生材料 (例如，胶原蛋白、甲壳素、纤维素)表面化学控制着对酶降解的敏感性。这个 建议的研究将使我在未来的奖项(如SC1、R15、R01)中具有竞争力，这样我就可以继续 这个长期目标。由于我正处于职业生涯的初级阶段，这项建议将为我提供资源 将自己确立为独立研究员，以便为以下方面提供高质量的研究经验 本科生和研究生在未来的许多年里。

Project Summary Biomaterial implants are natural or synthetic materials that can be placed in the body to improve human health in multiple ways, including delivering drugs to targeted regions of the body, healing wounds, and maintaining organ function. It is important that implants do not break down until they have performed their function. For example, stitches after tooth extractions can dissolve in a few weeks, but a hip replacement implant should be able to stay intact for years. When these implants degrade too quickly or not quickly enough, complications such as pain and infection can occur. The goal of our research is to address the need to develop implants for different applications by making biomaterials with a range of degradation times. The materials proposed in this research are made of silk, a naturally-derived material that interacts with the body without negative side effects. When silk is placed in the body, it is degraded by enzymes. The goal of our research is to create a range of silk materials with different degradation rates. Our approach is to control how enzymes access the silk surface by changing the atoms and molecules in the silk film surface. The method that will be used to change the chemistry of the silk surface is plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), which is a technique used to apply a thin coating to the silk with specific types of atoms. Silk film surface chemistry, wettability, and morphology will be assessed before and after PECVD to characterize any changes in the material. Following PECVD, silk films and untreated control films will be weighed and exposed to enzyme-containing solutions. Films will be removed from solution, dried, and weighed again to measure how much of the material has degraded. The specific objective of the proposed work is to use PECVD to customize the silk surface chemistry, thus controlling how the enzymes interact with the silk materials. The central hypothesis for this proposal is twofold 1) introducing a hydrophobic coating to silk films will decrease the rate of enzymatic degradation, and 2) introducing a hydrophilic coating to silk films will increase the rate of enzymatic degradation. This hypothesis is based on the ability for enzymes to adsorb to the silk film surface, which ultimately controls the enzymatic degradation of the film. This proposal is expected to result in a PECVD method to customize the degradation rate of silk through controlling the film chemistry. Our strategy is expected to inform a range of implant applications. This work will help to address our long-term research goal: to understand how tuning naturally-derived material (e.g., collagen, chitin, cellulose) surface chemistry controls susceptibility to enzymatic degradation. The proposed research will position me to be competitive for future awards (e.g., SC1, R15, R01) so that I can pursue this long-term goal. As I am in the beginning stage of my career, this proposal will provide me with the resources to establish myself as an independent researcher so that I can provide high-quality research experience to undergraduate and graduate students for many years to come.