Plasma Protein Adsorption to Anion Substituted Poly(vinyl alcohol) Membranes

Abstract: Anion-substituted poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes, carboxymethylated PVA (C-PVA), and sulfonated PVA (S-PVA) were prepared and the effects of these substitutions on the plasma protein adsorption were studied by one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. When Cuprophane was used as a negative con-trol, the amount of total proteins bound to samples decreased in the order Cuprophane * PVA * C-PVA * S-PVA, which we attribute to the effects of the surface characteristics of the samples, such as their surface tensions and elec-trostatic properties, on the adsorption of proteins to the surfaces of the materials. The results revealed that albumin was the most abundant protein in all the samples. The proportion of adsorbed fibrinogen to S-PVA exceeded those of PVA and C-PVA, whereas S-PVA exhibited the lowest IgG adsorption affinity among the samples we studied