Biomedical subjects

Insung S Choi

Publications and source records attributed to Insung S Choi.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

A reversibly switching surface.

We report the design of surfaces that exhibit dynamic changes in interfacial properties, such as wettability, in response to an electrical potential. The change in wetting behavior was caused by surface-confined, single-layered molecules undergoing conformational transitions between a hydrophilic and a moderately hydrophobic state. Reversible conformational transitions were confirmed at a molecular level with the use of sum-frequency generation spectroscopy and at a macroscopic level with the use of contact angle measurements. This type of surface design enables amplification of molecular-level conformational transitions to macroscopic changes in surface properties without altering the chemical identity of the surface. Such reversibly switching surfaces may open previously unknown opportunities in interfacial engineering.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2003

Surface modification of poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) for biomedical applications.

The immobilization of biological ligands (such as biotin and peptides) onto biodegradable polymer surfaces, including poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) sutures, is complicated by the absence of functional groups on the polymer backbone. We demonstrate a method for overcoming this problem, by attaching (+)-biotinyl-3,6,9-trioxaundecanediamine to the surface of PGA sutures, which immobilizes the ligand through an amide bond between amine (ligands) and carboxylic acid groups (surface-hydrolyzed PGA sutures). Fluorescence microscopy was used to verify the attachment of the biotin ligand to the surface of the PGA suture after a complexation with fluorescein-conjugated streptavidin. The strategy can be generalized to surface modifications of other biodegradable aliphatic polyesters, which would improve the properties of the polymers in biomedical applications such as active targeting of drugs based on ligand-attached, polymeric drug delivery systems.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed2002

Arrays of self-assembled monolayers for studying inhibition of bacterial adhesion.

This paper describes a simple and convenient method for the rapid screening of potential inhibitors of bacterial adhesion and for the quantitative evaluation of the efficacy of the inhibitors using arrays of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold that are presented on a 96-well microtiter plate. The SAMs present mixtures of alpha-D-mannopyranoside (a ligand that promotes the adhesion of uropathogenic Escherichia coli by binding to the FimH proteins on the tip of type 1 pili), and tri(ethylene glycol) moieties (organic groups that resist nonspecific adsorption of proteins and cells). The SAMs provide surfaces for studies of adhesion of uropathogenic E. coli to specific ligands; they also provide excellent resistance to nonspecific adhesion. Using arrays of mannoside-presenting SAMs, inhibitors of bacterial adhesion were easily screened by observing the number of bacteria that adhered to the surface of the SAMs in the presence of inhibitor. The potency of the inhibitor was quantified by measuring the percentage of inhibition as a function of the concentration of the inhibitor. The properties of SAMs, when combined with the convenience and standardization of a microtiter plate, make arrays of SAMs a versatile tool that can be applied to high-throughput screening of inhibitors of bacterial, viral, and mammalian cell adhesion and of strongly binding ligands for proteins.

Bacterial Adhesion↗