Study of a Novel Zwitterionic Material and Its Biological Applications

Abstract

Zwitterionic materials have been demonstrated to have excellent non-fouling properties for a wide range of biomedical and engineering applications. Inspired by naturally occurring osmolytes, our group have developed new zwitterionic molecules. In this work, one of these new zwitterionic materials has been studied for its non-fouling properties when it is coated on a surface via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and prepared as a hydrogel and for its ability to protect proteins when it is conjugated to a highly immunogenic protein such as uricase. Results are compared with those from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and other zwitterionic materials whenever possible. Results show that this new material based on a naturally occurring osmolyte is able to effectively prevent non-specific protein adsorption and to maintain protein stability and stability.