SELECTIVE ADHESION OF PLATELETS ON A POLYION COMPLEX COMPOSED OF PHOSPHOLIPID POLYMERS CONTAINING SULFONATE GROUPS AND QUARTERNARY AMMONIUM GROUPS

We investigated the effects of electrical charges on cell-polymer interactions of poly[2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine(MPC)-co-n-butyl methacrylate (BMA)] (PMB) having excellent blood compatibility, by copolymerizing anionic or cationic methacrylates with MPC and BMA. A polyion complex (PIC) composed of anionic and cationic MPC copolymers was also prepared. When the cell adhesion on these polymer surfaces from rabbit whole blood was evaluated, we observed a considerable reduction in cell adhesion on the MPC copolymers compared with that on poly(BMA), even when the MPC copolymer was electrically charged. On the other hand, many platelets selectively adhered to the PIC surface from whole blood, but the adherent platelets maintained a discoid shape. The amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in platelets adherent on the PMB or the PIC from a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was more than 75% of that in the original PRP, which indicated that the activity of these platelets remained high. However, in the platelets adherent to poly(BMA), only a small amount of ATP remained. Protein adsorption on the polymer surface from human plasma was investigated using a gold-colloid-labeled immunoassay against albumin gamma-globulin, and fibrinogen. Many of these proteins adsorbed on poly(BMA), whereas a small amount of protein was observed on the MPC copolymers that had an electrical charge. Albumin adsorption and suppression of gamma-globulin and fibrinogen adsorption were found on the PIC. Therefore, the introduction of electrical charges in the PMB did not have an adverse effect on cell adhesion and protein adsorption. The PIC composed of anionic and cationic MPC copolymers induced considerable adsorption of albumin and selective adhesion of platelets. Furthermore, the adherent platelets suppressed changes in their shapes and activity. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.