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Patterned and switchable surfaces for biomaterial applications

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Chapter 6 – Overall conclusionsThese molecules possess a negative charge at physiological pH, thus, shouldelectrostatically repel each other. However, despite this a high binding capacity ofCN type I <strong>and</strong> FN to PAA was observed that exceeded the binding capacity tocationic polymers (section 5.4.3). The mechanism of CN type I <strong>and</strong> FN adsorption toPAA, similar to DNA adsorption to ALAPP, may involve the adsorption of apositively charged domains of CN type I or FN to the PAA.Microarrays have revolutionised genomic studies <strong>and</strong> are a key enabling tool <strong>for</strong>the identification <strong>and</strong> characterisation of new <strong>biomaterial</strong>s. The <strong>for</strong>mation of DNA,cell <strong>and</strong> polymer microarrays have all been explored in this thesis (section 2.3.4,4.3.2, 4.3.4 <strong>and</strong> 5.4.1) <strong>and</strong> the ability to analyse various biological <strong>and</strong> chemicalfeatures in a high-throughput, cost-effective manner has been demonstrated. Thedevelopment of TCMs is a particularly exciting <strong>and</strong> important development <strong>for</strong> highthroughputstudies of genomics. The increased underst<strong>and</strong>ing of DNA-surfaceinteractions <strong>and</strong> the development of advanced material <strong>surfaces</strong> combined with theability to temporally <strong>and</strong> spatially manipulate biomolecules provide the means todevelop highly functional <strong>and</strong> reliable plat<strong>for</strong>ms <strong>for</strong> advanced genomic analysis.A novel approach was explored <strong>for</strong> the advanced substrate fabrication of cellmicroarrays, as discussed in CHAPTER 4. Here, surface patterning using roboticcontact printing was combined with the photo-induced chemistry of phenylazide. The<strong>for</strong>mation of stable surface patterns utilising a highly reactive crosslinker bound tosoluble synthetic polymers enabled the covalent photo-induced linkage of theresultant polymer arrays to a broad range of organic substrate materials, includinglow fouling poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) coatings. Furthermore, polymer microarray<strong>for</strong>mation enabled the pre-patterning of microarray substrates <strong>for</strong> the <strong>for</strong>mation ofbiomolecule microarrays, which was demonstrated by the <strong>for</strong>mation of a cell6-210

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