Abstract
Proteins can adsorb on the surface of artificial joints immediately after being implanted. Although research studying protein adsorption on medical material surfaces has been carried out, the mechanism of the proteins’ adsorption which affects the corrosion behaviour of such materials still lacks in situ observation at the micro level. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on CoCrMo alloy surfaces was studied in situ by AFM and SKPFM as a function of pH and the charge of CoCrMo alloy surfaces. Results showed that when the specimens were uncharged, hydrophobic interaction could govern the process of the adsorption rather than electrostatic interaction, and BSA molecules tended to adsorb on the surfaces forming a monolayer in the side-on model. Results also showed that adsorbed BSA molecules could promote the corrosion process for CoCrMo alloys. When the surface was positively charged, the electrostatic interaction played a leading role in the adsorption process. The maximum adsorption occurred at the isoelectric point (pH 4.7) of BSA.
Highlights
Proteins can adsorb on the surface of artificial joints immediately after being implanted
Because electrostatic interaction is related to both the charge of the protein molecules and the charge on the metal surface, we focus on the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with differently charged surfaces at pH 3.0, pH4.7 and pH10
When the substrate was not charged, the hydrophobic effect played a leading role in the adsorption of BSA on the CoCrMo alloy surface and BSA absorbed on the surface, forming a monolayer with the side-on model
Summary
Proteins can adsorb on the surface of artificial joints immediately after being implanted. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on CoCrMo alloy surfaces was studied in situ by AFM and SKPFM as a function of pH and the charge of CoCrMo alloy surfaces. Results showed that when the specimens were uncharged, hydrophobic interaction could govern the process of the adsorption rather than electrostatic interaction, and BSA molecules tended to adsorb on the surfaces forming a monolayer in the side-on model. Results showed that adsorbed BSA molecules could promote the corrosion process for CoCrMo alloys. The adsorption of proteins on a solid surface is a complex process combing hydrophobic, electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions. There have been a few studies reporting the effect of proteins on the corrosion behaviours of biomedical materials, the mechanisms through which proteins influence the corrosion reactions are still not fully understood. The main objective of this work is to elucidate the effects of the pH and the surface charge on the adsorption of albumin on CoCrMo alloy surfaces www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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