title: Layer-by-layer film growth using polysaccharides and recombinant polypeptides: a combinatorial approach.
abstract: Nanostructured films consisting of polysaccharides and elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs) are fabricated in a layer-by-layer manner. A quartz-crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) is used to follow the buildup of hybrid films containing one polysaccharide (chitosan or alginate) and one of several ELRs that differ in terms of amino acid content, length, and biofunctionality in situ at pH 4.0 and pH 5.5. The charge density of the ingredients at each pH is determined by measuring their ζ-potential, and the thickness of a total of 36 different films containing five bilayers is estimated using the Voigt-based viscoelastic model. A comparison of the values obtained reveals that thicker films can be obtained when working at a pH close to the acidity constant of the polysaccharide used (near-pKa conditions), suggesting that the construction of such films is more favorable when based on the presence of hydrophobic interactions between ELRs and partially neutralized polysaccharides. Further analysis shows that the molecular weight of the ELRs plays only a minor role in defining the growth tendency. When taken together, these results point to the most favorable conditions for constructing nanostructured films from natural and distinct recombinant polypeptides that can be tuned to exhibit specialized biofunctionality for tissue-engineering, drug-delivery, and biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: University of Minho, 3B's Research Group - Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Avepark, 4806-909 Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Testera
authors.forename: F Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.forename: J Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Cabello
authors.forename: João F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mano
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry; D004549:Elastin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D058525:Quartz Crystal Microbalance Techniques; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D011134:Polysaccharides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D004549:Elastin; D048271:Chitosan