Scientists in Canada have made a super-strong cell membrane adhesive and used it to stick red blood cells together. The polymer, based on the phospholipid head group phosphatidyl choline, could be used to secure cells in particular positions for tissue engineering and wound closure.
Don Brooks, from the Centre for Blood Research at the University of British Columbia, who led the study, says inspiration for the work came after trying to understand the chemistry of cell membranes. ‘Phosphatidyl choline [PC] is found in every cell membrane, except for some primitive bacteria, so we wondered what would happen if we were to turn the molecule around to choline phosphate [CP]? Would you get an adhesive effect because the positive and negative charges are now inverted?’ This proved to be the case, and the team demonstrated that branched polyglycerols containing CP bound to a variety of cell membranes
Read the full article in Chemistry World
Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
ATRP synthesis of poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl choline phosphate): a multivalent universal biomembrane adhesive
Xifei Yu, Xiaoqiang Yang, Sonja Horte, Jayachandran N. Kizhakkedathu and Donald E. Brooks
Chem. Commun., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC41895B, Communication
