Polymer-grafted membrane-mimetic surfaces: lateral structure and interactions with dissolved biomolecules

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An ongoing effort of biomaterials research is concerned with the engineering of bio-non-fouling membrane-mimetic surfaces. Such surfaces can be formed by introducing molecules grafted with hydrophilic polymers into self-assembled lipid matrixes (monolayers, bilayers, liposomes). Our study will be focused on how various lipids and polymer-grafted molecules can be assembled together to produce sufficiently stable membrane-mimetic surfaces with a well-defined structure of the grafted polymer layer. By performing state-of-the-art surface characterizations, the lateral structure and local properties of polymer-grafted membrane-mimetic surfaces will be examined. Then, the ultimate characterization of the surface structure will be accomplished by studying the accessibility of various locations on the surface to dissolved biomolecules. The knowledge obtained from these studies will be used to derive composition/structure and structure/property relationships that can serve as guidelines for the rational design of bio-non-fouling membrane-mimetic layers on the surface of implanted medical devises and sterically stabilized liposomes.