Facile surface PEGylation via tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidative reaction for the preparation of non-fouling surfaces

The control of biological interactions that occur at material-cell/blood interfaces is of great importance to help maximize in vitro and in vivo performance of biomedical devices. PEGylation has been extensively used as an effective surface modification tool that can alter biological responses on device surfaces. Herein, we report a new surface PEGylation method using a tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidative reaction. Tyramine (TA), an enzymatically active phenolic compound, was chemically conjugated to methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG). Surface immobilization of mPEG-TA onto various substrates was accomplished simply and rapidly by adding tyrosinase under mild conditions. It was shown that the water contact angles on all surfaces modified with mPEG-TA were decreased, indicating successful introduction of hydrophilic PEG. In addition, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra demonstrated the differences in the atomic composition on the TiO2 surface after treatment with mPEG-TA. Non-fouling surfaces prevent non-specific interactions with proteins and cells; consistently, the PEGylated TiO2 surface clearly showed a decrease in both levels of bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption and NIH3T3 cell attachment. Therefore, the facile surface PEGylation using a tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidative reaction should be useful for designing non-fouling surfaces of biomedical devices.