This study reports the use of
tetraethylene glycol-terminated self-assembled monolayers (EG(4)
SAMs) as a background non-fouling surface to study the effect of an 18
carbon ligand (C18) on
albumin selective and reversible adsorption and subsequent platelet and leukocyte adhesion. Surface characterization techniques revealed an efficient immobilization of different levels of C18
ligand on EG(4)
SAMs and an increase of surface thickness and hydrophobicity with the increase of C18
ligands.
Albumin adsorption increased as the percentage of C18
ligands on the surface increased, but only 2.5%C18
SAMs adsorbed
albumin in a selective and reversible way. Adherent platelets also increased with the amount of immobilized C18. Pre-immersion of samples in
albumin before contact with platelets demonstrated an 80% decrease in platelet adhesion. Pre-immersion in plasma was only relevant for 2.5%C18
SAMs since this was the only surface to have less platelet adhesion compared to
buffer pre-immersion. EG(4)
SAMs adhered negligible amounts of leukocytes, but surfaces with C18
ligands have some adherent leukocytes. Except for 10%C18
SAMs, which increased leukocyte adhesion after
albumin pre-adhesion,
protein pre-immersion did not influence leukocyte adhesion. It has been shown that a surface with a specific surface concentration of
albumin-binding
ligands (2.5%C18
SAMs) can recruit
albumin selectively and reversibly and minimize the adhesion of platelets, despite still adhering some leukocytes.