Silicones in Tissue Engineering

Crosslinked Siloxane via Hydro ilatior Cure Chemistry Silicone Elastomer  

The activity of an adsorbed protein depends upon the orientation and conformation of the protein molecule on material surface. Sometimes, the protein shows structural rearrangements with time (such as transformation of an a-helix structure to a random coil one), which may either cause strengthening of protein attachment or lead to reversible adsorption and protein elution. Thus, the stability of a protein conformation governs the kinetics of its adsorption. Depending upon the type of application, either of the protein rearrangements may be favorable. The adsorption profile and functionality of the protein determines the protein mediated cell responses. From literature, it is unclear on the optimum surface chemistry necessary for a desired cellular 

There are a few physical surface modification techniques which have been successfully used for silicone polymers which are briefly described below  

In one study, a PDMS surface treated with CO -pulsed laser beam showed low platelet spreading and aggregation [33]. 

Recently, several studies have immobilized bioactive species, such as enzymes, peptides and proteins, directly onto the polymer surface. The polymer siuface is fimctionalized with one of the above techniques to introduce the desired functional groups to subsequently react with the bioactive molecule. Thus, the functional group or the grafted polymer chains act as a spacer molecule between the material sm-face and bioactive compound. This helps in reducing the steric hindrance and shields the biomolecule from the hydrophobic surface preventing protein denaturation and enhancing bioactivity. The intermediary molecular chemistry can influence the bioactive compound behavior on the material surface. This approach has been used for PDMS used as biosensors [37]. 

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