(789h) Manipulating Bacteria and Proteins with Polymer Brushes Containing Embedded Nanoscale Elements

Classically, hydrated polymer brushes, for instance those comprised of polyethylene glycol, have been placed on surfaces to prevent nonspecific bio-adhesion.  Sometimes, bio-molecular fragments on longer tethers are engineered forward of the main brush to promote specific targeting and capture of cells and biomarkers.  By contrast, we have developed sterically repulsive polymer brushy surfaces containing embedded functionality, with length scales on the order of a few to about 10 nanometers.  Key to this approach is the use of brushes that are, themselves, highly non-bioadhesive as a result of their density and height.  Embedding the functionality within the brush sets up competition between the localized discrete adhesive elements and the steric repulsion of the brush.  Additionally the discrete nature of the attractive groups facilitates a pattern recognition type mechanism during cell binding.  This talk will explain the design of brushes with discrete embedded functionality for the responsive manipulation of bacteria, the selective capture of targeted proteins through a molecular ruler mechanism, and the design of surfaces for cell capture without protein fouling.