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

项目摘要 生物材料植入物是天然或合成材料，可以放置在体内，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， 器官功能重要的是，植入物在完成其功能之前不会分解。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 能够保持完好多年。当这些植入物降解太快或不够快时， 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应用。本研究提出的材料 由丝制成，丝是一种天然材料，与身体相互作用而不会产生负面影响。当丝绸 被放入体内，它会被酶降解。我们研究的目标是创造一系列的丝绸材料 不同的降解速率。我们的方法是通过改变酶与蚕丝表面的接触方式， 丝膜表面的原子和分子。将用于改变化学物质的方法 等离子体增强化学气相沉积（PECVD）是一种用于在丝绸表面施加薄的 用特定类型的原子覆盖在丝绸上。丝膜表面化学、润湿性和形态将被 在PECVD之前和之后进行评估，以表征材料的任何变化。在PECVD之后， 将未处理的对照膜称重并暴露于含酶溶液。电影将从 溶液，干燥，并再次称重以测量有多少材料已经降解。具体目标 拟议的工作是使用PECVD定制丝表面化学，从而控制酶如何 与蚕丝材料相互作用。这个建议的中心假设是双重的1）引入一个 丝膜的疏水涂层将降低酶降解速率，以及2）引入疏水涂层， 对丝膜的亲水涂层将增加酶降解的速率。这个假设是基于 酶吸附到丝膜表面的能力，这最终控制酶降解 电影的最后一幕这一建议有望导致PECVD方法定制丝的降解速率 通过控制薄膜的化学成分。我们的策略有望为一系列植入物应用提供信息。 这项工作将有助于实现我们的长期研究目标：了解如何调整天然来源的材料 (e.g.,胶原、几丁质、纤维素）表面化学控制对酶降解的敏感性。的 建议的研究将使我在未来的奖项中具有竞争力（例如，SC1，R15，R01），这样我就可以追求 这个长期目标。由于我正处于职业生涯的起步阶段，这份提案将为我提供资源， 使自己成为一名独立的研究人员，这样我就可以提供高质量的研究经验， 本科生和研究生，多年来。

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.