The ability to precisely control surface and interface properties is of paramount importance in applications ranging from adhesion, biomaterials, to medical implants and miniaturized analytical devices. The advance of these fields demands highly sensitive bioanaytical assays and techniques that can offer unprecedented levels of precision and resolution. Surface chemistry is often the bottleneck in the advancement of these techniques. Requirements for surface coupling chemistry include the precise control of the ligand density, orientation and spatial presentation, as well as a matrix that minimizes non-specific interactions. Also highly desirable are coupling chemistries that can accommodate ligands of diverse molecular structures. Techniques that can offer additional benefit of simplicity and versatility are especially attractive in clinical and industrial settings. We have developed a photocoupling chemistry for the covalent attachment of organic molecules on solid substrates. The technique is simple, versatile, and the process can be conveniently modulated by an external light with high precision and spatial resolution. A grand challenge in this photocoupling chemistry is the precise control over the ligand presentation with respect to orientation, conformation, and spatial display. The work described in this proposal is designed to address this challenge. Our hypothesis is that ligand presentation can be controlled by engineering surfaces and interfaces at the molecular level. Using carbohydrates as the model system, we will develop strategies to control the ligand density and the coupling efficiency (AIM 1). The conformation and presentation of the ligand will be addressed by incorporating a physical adsorption process where the ligand conformation will be defined by the interfacial interactions of the ligand with the substrate (AIM 2). Finally, the developed strategies will be employed to couple carbohydrates to nanomaterials. The efficiency of these carbohydrate ligands in capturing bacteria will be studied with regard to the ligand presentation and display (AIM 3).
This project focuses on designing and developing functional surfaces and nanomaterials for specific use in medical devices and diagnostics. The optimized materials will particularly be applied to presentation of carbohydrate structures since glycan-mediated recognition plays a central role in many disease processes, such as bacterial adherence and inflammatory processes. The designed materials will subsequently be applied to nonthrombogenic surfaces for biomaterials and medical devices, and nanomaterial capture of pathogenic cells. ? ? ?
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