Anticoagulant activity of immobilized thrombomodulin

Covalently immobilized thrombomodulin inhibits coagulation and complement activation of artificial surfaces in vitro

Thrombomodulin (TM) serves as the endothelial cell receptor for thrombin and alters its characteristics from pro- to anticoagulant. Additionally, it promotes the formation of activated protein C. We evaluated the conservation of the overall outcome of these functions in recombinant TM linked to artificial surfaces by incubation with human whole blood in vitro. TM was covalently immobilized through poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) spacers onto thin films of poly(octadecene alt maleic anhydride) covering planar glass substrates. TM binding to the polymer films was achieved after active ester formation at the carboxylic acid terminus of the PEG spacers and thoroughly characterized by HPLC-based amino acid analysis, immunofluorescence and ellipsometry. TM-coated samples were incubated for 3h with freshly drawn whole human blood anticoagulated with heparin (5IU/ml) using in-house developed incubation systems. The substantially reduced activation of blood coagulation (TAT) for TM-coated samples correlates well with the degree of contact activation (bradykinin and FXIIa formation) while no significant effects were observed for the platelet activation (PF4). Further, complement activation (C5a levels), was strongly diminished at the TM-containing surfaces. We conclude that the suggested method for preparation of TM immobilization may serve to prepare model substrates for studies on TM interactions but similarly provides a promising coating strategy for blood contacting medical devices.

Studies of a novel human thrombomodulin immobilized substrate: surface characterization and anticoagulation activity evaluation

Immobilization of the anticoagulative or antithrombogenic biomolecule has been considered as one of the important methods to improve the blood compatibility of artificial biomaterials. In this study, a novel immobilization reaction scheme was utilized to incorporate the human thrombomodulin, an endothelial cell associated glycoprotein, onto the cover glass surface with an aim to develop an anticoagulative substrate. Trichlorotriazine and amino-terminated silane were employed as the coupling agents, while the polyethylene glycol with a molecular weight of 1500 was used as the spacer in this reaction scheme. Protein C activation assay indicated the immobilized human thrombomodulin still has this coenzymatic activity but is lower, possibly due to the conformation variation by the coupling agents. In vitro platelet adhesion assay has demonstrated the surface with immobilized human thrombomodulin is much less platelet-activating than others. Therefore, the novel reaction scheme proposed here is very promising for future development of an anticoagulative silicon or cover glass substrate (e.g. implantable sensor or biochip) by the immobilization of antithrombogenic protein, such as the human thrombomodulin in this study.

Microwave CO2 plasma-initiated vapour phase graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto polytetrafluoroethylene for immobilization of human thrombomodulin

The functionalization of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for human thrombomodulin (hTM) binding has been achieved by CO2 plasma activation and subsequent vapour phase graft polymerization of acrylic acid (AA). The PTFE surfaces after CO2 plasma treatment, AA grafting and hTM immobilization were characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, as well as by zeta potential and wetting measurements to quantitatively control each step of modification. The activity of immobilized hTM was estimated by the protein C activation test.

Immobilization of human thrombomodulin on biomaterials: evaluation of the activity of immobilized human thrombomodulin

Thrombomodulin (TM) is a newly described endothelial cell associated protein that functions as a potent natural anticoagulant by converting thrombin from a procoagulant protease to an anticoagulant. In this study, the immobilization of hTM was investigated in detail using surface modified polymers. As the basis of immobilization, poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc) surface-grafted poly(ethylene) (PAAc-g-PE) film was used with the expectation of increasing the immobilization amount of hTM. The effect of the immobilization reaction on the hTM activities, and the comparison of the activities of the immobilized hTM with the free hTM, were studied.

Immobilization of human thrombomodulin onto poly(ether urethane urea) for developing antithrombogenic blood-contacting materials

Thrombomodulin (TM) is a newly described endothelial cell-associated protein that functions as a potent natural anticoagulant by converting thrombin from a procoagulant protease to an anticoagulant. In this study, focussing on the application of TM for biomedical materials, recombinant human TM (hTM) was immobilized onto the polymers for medical use, and the evaluation of their antithrombogenicity and the interaction with platelets were investigated. As the base polymer for immobilization reaction, poly(ether urethane urea) (PEUU), which was reported to have good blood compatibility, was used. hTM-immobilized PEUU showed superior antithrombogenic activity, such as the prolongation of plasma recalcification time and the inhibition of thrombin-induced platelet aggregation, though the amount of immobilized hTM was very small (i.e. less than 1 microgram/cm2). Platelet adhesions onto hTM-immobilized PEUU were not observed. These results show that the immobilization of hTM does not change the native good blood compatibility of PEUU, but provides excellent anticoagulant activity.