Photochemical immobilization of bovine serum albumin on Ti–O and evaluations in vitro and in vivo

Antithrombogenic biomaterials have been of great interest in the development of artificial organs and devices. In this study, titanium oxide coatings were used as the basis for covalent immobilization of a BSA layer by a photochemical method. BSA was first modified with azidophenyl group on the side chain, so it (AZ-BSA) has the property of photo-reactivity. Simultaneously, an organic monolayer of 3-aminopropylphosphonic acid (APP) was introduced on the Ti–O film by self-assembling, and then UV irradiation was used to couple AZ-BSA with APP. FTIR, XPS and contact angle measurements confirmed the occurrence of the modification. Additionally, a surface with both BSA immobilized and non-BSA immobilized regions was prepared by using a mask when irradiating, thus the interactions of materials and platelets were visualized. Platelet experiments of both qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that BSA immobilized surface was effective to inhibit platelet adhesion in vitro. In vivo study also confirmed better hemocompatibility of BSA immobilized surface after 90 days implantation.