Surface biofunctionalization: a biomimetic strategy in materials design

CARLA E. GIACOMELLI

Santiago del Estero

Congreso; XLIV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Biofísica; 2015

SAB

Surface biofunctionalization plays a central role in designing new materials with the right properties for each function. In fact, it has been used in a wide variety of systems as a powerful strategy to improve their performance in biosensing, biocatalysis, drug delivery, tissue engineering, etc. Probably, the modification of solid substrates with proteins is one of the most exploited biofunctionalization strategies for materials design due to the intrinsic activity of native proteins. The critical condition to transfer the functionalities of native proteins to solid substrates, relies on understanding the magnitude of the surface perturbation on the 3D structure of the biomolecule. To mention a few representative examples, the effect of the adsorption process on the conformation of enzymes determines the biosensors performance, the modification of drug carriers with proteins changes the release rate and site-specificity, and tuning the surface properties of prostheses and implants with proteins controls the biocompatibility response. From these examples, it is clear that modulating the type of interaction and its effect on the conformation of proteins is crucial to achieve suitable surface biofunctionalization when designing new materials.