Phosphorylcholine Functional Biomimicking Polymers

This section Illustrates results obtained in our laboratory In the context of the de sign and control of the surface properties of polymers used as blomateiials [43[. Indeed, Interactions between biomaterials and tissues occur via a layer of proteins adsorbed at the surface of any implant [44]. Such protein adsorption is the imme- 

The response of blomolecules and cell membranes Is determined by many factors, some of which are the chemical composition and conformation of the molecules, the surface energy, and topography of the top surface layers which are in contact with biological systems, I.e., body fluids and cells [45]. The work illustrated here consisted In designing new polymers with functional properties capable of promoting the attachment of specific cells. The first step consisted in a polymer system which surface inhibits non-specific cell attachment. This strategy is based on the incorporation of cell membrane constituents such as phosphorylcholine (PC) or phospholipid analogues into polymers [46-51]. 

The second copolymer system was chosen because of the higher synthetic flexibility offered by acrylate chemistry. Our choice was directed towards an acrylic 

A major part of these projects was also dedicated to understanding the bulk and solution structural organization of such polymers and here we would like to refer the reader to appropriate literature [56, 58]. While it was shown that the am-phiphile nature of the terpolymer system, and in particular the phosphorylcholine (PC) groups, played an Important role in the structure organization and molecular mobility of the copolymers, the results displayed in the present discussion focus on how the presence of these PC groups impacted on the surface properties of the copolymer synthesized. With this aim in mind, surface analytical techniques such as XPS and ToF-SIMS were used and complemented with contact angles and biolog leal In-vltro assays to characterize the dynamics of the copolymers surface and as sess the extent of the resistance to the non-specific attachment of cells on samples coated with the PC copolymers (for experimental details, refer to [56,58]). 

Furthermore, the characteristic fragment of GPC containing coatings, CgHigN04P (224D), was also detected (data not shown). The comparison of the 

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