Dual Biomolecule Patterning on Micropatterned Polylactide Surfaces Bearing Oppositely Charged Polymer Brushes at...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Surface Science

Background:

• Micropatterned surfaces with polymer brushes offer precise control over biomolecule interactions.
• Creating surfaces with oppositely charged polymer brushes is challenging due to electrostatic interference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a facile strategy for fabricating micropatterned surfaces with alternating cationic and anionic polymer brushes on a biodegradable substrate.
• To demonstrate the utility of these surfaces for biomolecule microarrays and assess their biological properties.

Main Methods:

• Utilized surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SIATRP) on a polylactide (PLA) substrate.
• Employed a masking/demasking technique combined with a temporary blocking strategy (tributylamine) to enable sequential grafting of anionic (poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium), PSPMA) and cationic (poly([2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride), PMETA) brushes.
• Deprotection of anionic groups by pH reduction allowed for the creation of oppositely charged dual-brush surfaces.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated well-defined micropatterned surfaces with alternating PMETA and PSPMA brushes on PLA.
• Demonstrated the application of these surfaces in creating protein and DNA microarrays.
• The dual-brush surfaces exhibited cytocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and significant antibacterial activity.

Conclusions:

• The developed method provides a robust platform for creating complex polymer brush architectures on micropatterned surfaces.
• Oppositely charged dual-brush surfaces show great potential for advanced biomedical applications, including biosensing and antimicrobial materials.