Issue 43, 2017

Hydrogen bonding induced protein adsorption on polymer brushes: a Monte Carlo study

Abstract

Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the protein adsorption behaviors on polymer brushes in the presence of hydrogen bonding between proteins and polymer brushes. It is interesting to observe in simulation that as a function of grafting density, the amount of protein adsorbed passes through a minimum, that is, a critical grafting density with the minimum amount of adsorbed protein exists. The existence of a critical grafting density uncovers two different driving forces of protein adsorption. The driving force of protein adsorption is mainly the hydrogen bonding between proteins and polymer brushes when the grafting density is above the critical value, whereas the driving force is the attraction between proteins and the hydrophobic substrate when the grafting density is below the critical value. It is extraordinary that at the critical grafting density, increasing the hydrophilicity of the polymer brushes will lead to an increase in protein adsorption, even when the formation of hydrogen bonding between the proteins and polymer brushes is suppressed by the increasing hydrophilicity of the polymer brushes. This mainly results from the conformational transition of the polymer chains from collapsed to stretched when the hydrophilicity is increased. It is noteworthy that the relationship between protein adsorption and grafting density reported in this study is quite consistent with our previous experimental work. Beyond that, the simulation results also provide detailed information about protein adsorption location and grafting chain conformation, which helps us to better understand the protein adsorption behaviors on polymer brushes induced by hydrogen bonding.

Graphical abstract: Hydrogen bonding induced protein adsorption on polymer brushes: a Monte Carlo study

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 set 2017
Accepted
09 out 2017
First published
09 out 2017

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017,5, 8479-8486

Hydrogen bonding induced protein adsorption on polymer brushes: a Monte Carlo study

Y. Han, J. Cui, J. Jin and W. Jiang, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 8479 DOI: 10.1039/C7TB02465G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements