An in vitro study of Protein Adsorption to Biocompatible Coatings

The motivation for these experiments was to investigate the amount and type of protein adsorption on surfaces that can be used as protective coatings on membrane based in vivo devices. Adsorption of proteins to a selection of biocompatible coatings (titanium oxide, diamond-like carbon, parylene C) and typical construction materials for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (silicon, silicon nitride), were investigated during in vitro tests. The samples were incubated in human liver extract and bovine serum albumin (BSA) for up to 12 hours. The amount of protein adsorption was found to be low for all surfaces. Measurements of bound Iodine-125 labeled BSA, showed a protein adsorption of up to 0.2 μg BSA/cm2. The specific proteins adsorbed to the surfaces after incubation in human liver extract were identified using mass spectrometry. Most of the identified adsorbed proteins were intracellular, but plasma proteins like Immunoglobulin (Ig) and serum albumin as well as hemoglobin were also identified.