Lubricin and Nano-BaSO4: Novel Methods to Prevent Surface Biofouling

Biofouling is a serious issue that threatens the lasting beneficial effects of many surgeries, shortens the lifespan of many implanted medical devices, and is a persistent problem for hospitals, surgeons, and patients all over the world. This set of studies is aimed to address the issue of biofouling by proposing novel surface preparation methods using lubricin and/or nano-BaSO 4 as non toxic agents to prevent biofouling by inhibiting initial cellular adhesion to surfaces. Preventing initial unwanted cellular attachment and accumulation will dramatically improve outcomes and reduce instances of life threatening infections and bio-adhesions.;Lubricin is a an anti-adhesive glycoprotein that is found in the synovial fluid, which acts as a natural barrier within the body, lubricating surfaces and preventing undesirable cellular adhesion on cartilage. BaSO4 is a common additive used to make medical plastics radio opaque. Nano-formulations would retain similar radiopaque properties while imbuing the medical plastic with nano surface features which would change surface interactions with biological agents.;This research employed bacterial studies, mammalian cell studies, and mathematical modeling to better understand how these treatments will combat surface biofouling. This research proved that Lubricin was able to suppress both Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis adhesion and proliferation. The attachment and growth of Staphylococcus aureus on tissue culture polystyrene over the course of 24 hours was reduced by approximately 13.9% compared to a PBS soaked control. Under stationary conditions, lag time for Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis were increased by 27% and 36%, respectively. Additionally, surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) studies determined that under flow conditions lubricin coated surfaces show 90% less Staphylococcus aureus biofouling than uncoated surfaces. These studies indicated that lubricin was able to prevent fibroblast adhesions to polystyrene surfaces, without adversely affecting the fibroblast viability. These studies indicated the once lubricin attached to surfaces the attachment of other surface proteins were blocked and thus both bacterial cells and fibroblast cells were unable to fully adhere to coated surfaces. This research demonstrated that the incorporation of nano-barium sulfate into pellethane hindered the proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa compared to currently used pellethane.;The results of this study will provide the medical field with novel alternative methods to reduce bio-adhesions related complications.