Blood compatible aspects of poly(2-methoxyethylacrylate) (PMEA) - relationship between protein adsorption and platelet adhesion on PMEA surface

Platelet adhesion and spreading is suppressed when a poly(2-methoxyethylacr ylate) (PMEA) surface is used, compared with other polymer surfaces. To cla rify the reason for this suppression, the relationship among the amount of the plasma protein adsorbed onto PMEA, its secondary structure and platelet adhesion was investigated. Poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) (PHEMA) and po lyacrylate analogous were used as references. The amount of protein adsorbe d onto PMEA was very low and similar to that absorbed onto PHEMA. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy was applied to examine changes in the secondary structure of the proteins after adsorption onto the polymer surface. The c onformation of the proteins adsorbed onto PHEMA changed considerably, but t hat of proteins adsorbed onto PMEA differed only a little from the native o ne. These results suggest that low platelet adhesion and spreading are clos ely related to the low degree of the denaturation of the protein adsorbed o nto PMEA. PMEA could be developed as a promising material to produce a usef ul blood-contacting surface for medical devices. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.