Abstract
The authors have developed methods to enhance albumin binding to modified silicone rubber (SR) films. An intermediate bifunctional coupling agent, polyvinylmethyl siloxane-comethyl-1-ethanol siloxane (PVMS-CO-MES), is prepared from a cyclic tetramer, vinyl-methyl siloxane, by an oxymercuration- demercuration reaction, and cross-linked to silicone rubber under mild peroxide catalytic conditions. Free mercury on the surface was obtained under many reaction conditions and is shown to materially enhance 125I-labeled albumin binding. The mechanism most likely occurs via disulfide bond breakage, protein denaturation, and aggregation. The possible role of iodine- mercury bonds, an artefactual source, is ruled out with the aid of total internal reflectance-fluorescence measurements of the albumin adsorption rate constant. Although in situ albumin aggregation via disulfide bond breakage is a potentially attractive method for biocompatible protein gel formation, the toxicity of mercury makes the current method unfit for clinical practice.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | M310-M313 |
Journal | ASAIO Journal |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1993 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Bioengineering
- Biomaterials
- Biomedical Engineering