Protein adsorption on polymers

Although a promising progress has been recently accomplished in polymer science, cell biology, immunology and biotechnology, the biocompatibility of biomaterials still remains a critical issue to address. At present, some polymeric biomaterials are still encountering with the difficulty of foreign body responses (FBRs) including blood-material interactions, inflammation, and immune system responses. It has been widely reported that controlling the physiochemical properties of biomaterials could potentially lead to having a precise control over the kind, quantity, conformation, and duration of adsorbed proteins onto the polymer's surface. It has been well accepted that the interactions between biomaterials and immune cells could be to a great extent controlled through regulating the protein adsorption mechanism. In this review, the role of adsorbed proteins, as important players in the initiation of interactions between cells and polymers, will be discussed in detail. Furthermore, the critical physicochemical properties of the polymer's surface which significantly impact on the functions of proteins and cells will be given. The discussion will then address the recent contradicting reports, for which a range of engineering solutions have been suggested. There are promising ways for controlling the proteins adsorption and subsequent cellular responses to polymeric biomaterials.