Immobilization of hyaluronic acid binding peptides for the modification of medical materials

This thesis starts with a general introduction about nature's-adhesives and why they have inspired medical research. As an example the polyphonic mussel adhesive system of Mytilus Edulis is explained, revealing 3.4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (DOPA) as the major amino acid of the adhesion mechanism. This is followed by a paragraph about how DOPA can be used in medical coatings and why laccase is needed in order for DOPA to be functional. The problems of implant wound healing are stated and compared to natural wound healing. Different surface modification strategies of bio-material (implants) are discussed, and how they have been used to overcome the problems of implant wound healing. Especially peptide coatings are elucidated. The study objective is the development of a bio-material immobilization strategy with DOPA and the functional peptide (HABpep). The peptide's function could slow down osteoarthritis and fibrosis by accumulating Hyaluronic Acid (HyA). The idea of a coating with the Hyaluronic Acid binding peptide (HABpep) was inspired by a nature material paper therefore, the original immobilization strategy of Singh et al. (2014) is explained. The innovative contribution and project aim is the simplification of this setup, to make it more appealing for medical use. This chapter ends with listing the seven hypothesis this work in based on.