Over the past 15 years, poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (POEGMA) has been investigated as a substitute for linear PEG for various biomedical applications. POEGMA brushes exhibit a highly branched architecture with a high density of oligo ethylene glycol moieties, which are responsible for the excellent nonfouling behavior of the material. The first demonstration of the nonfouling properties of POEGMA brushes in serum was reported by our laboratory nearly 15 years ago. In these initial reports, Ma et al. used surface initiated polymerization to grow POEGMA brushes from a variety of substrates. We—and later others—observed that protein resistance is a function of brush thickness and density which can be tuned by varying the polymerization times and surface density of the active initiator.
POEGMA Polymer Brushes
Publications
Ozer, Imran, George A. Pitoc, Juliana M. Layzer, Angelo Moreno, Lyra B. Olson, Kyle D. Layzer, Angus M. Hucknall, Bruce A. Sullenger, and Ashutosh Chilkoti. “PEG-Like Brush Polymer Conjugate of RNA Aptamer That Shows Reversible Anticoagulant Activity and Minimal Immune Response.” Adv Mater 34, no. 10 (March 2022): e2107852. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202107852.
Heggestad, Jacob T., Cassio M. Fontes, Daniel Y. Joh, Angus M. Hucknall, and Ashutosh Chilkoti. “In Pursuit of Zero 2.0: Recent Developments in Nonfouling Polymer Brushes for Immunoassays.” Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 32, no. 2 (January 2020): e1903285. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201903285.
Joh, Daniel Y., Zackary Zimmers, Manav Avlani, Jacob T. Heggestad, Hakan B. Aydin, Nancy Ganson, Shourya Kumar, et al. “Architectural Modification of Conformal PEG-Bottlebrush Coatings Minimizes Anti-PEG Antigenicity While Preserving Stealth Properties.” Adv Healthc Mater 8, no. 8 (April 2019): e1801177. https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.201801177.
Patents
A. Chilkoti, Franklin, A. , Yellen, B. , Hucknall, A. , Joh, D. , Abedini-Nassab, R. , and Andrews, J. , “Nonfouling biosensors”, 2022.
“CHIPS, DETECTORS, AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME”, U.S. Patent 17/521,3572022.
A. Chilkoti and Hucknall, A. , “Chips, detectors, and methods of making and using the same”, 2021.
A. Chilkoti, “Non-fouling polymeric surface modification and signal amplification method for biomolecular detection”, 2021.
A. Hucknall, Chilkoti, A. , Joh, D. , Ganson, N. J. , Qi, Y. , and Hershfield, M. S. , “Surfaces having reduced non-specific binding and antigenicity”, U.S. Patent US20210046188A12020.