Probing the metal surface/amino acid interface with scanning tunneling microscopy and synchrotron spectroscopy

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The design of materials for use in the human body, for example for hip and knee replacements, requires a good understanding of the interaction between the surface of that material and the body's tissues, in order to avoid problems like rejection. One approach to solving this complex problem is to start from the bottom up and examine the interaction of amino acid molecules with different surfaces at the nanoscale - the length scale of an individual molecule. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, large biomolecules which perform many key functions in our bodies and are a major constituent of body tissues. Advances in understanding how individual amino acid molecules interact with a surface provide a foundation upon which to build a picture of ever more complex interactions involving proteins, cells and whole tissues.