Mechanics of biomolecular adhesion to designed surfaces

• Main Author: Yap, Wei Lin.
• Other Authors: Liao, Kin
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Bio-mechatronics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/5461
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Galactose moieties are known to mediate the hepatocytes adhesion and maintain liver specific function. In this study, the adhesion of asialoglycoprotein receptor onto glass surface attached with galactose-B ligand is studied through molecular simulation. The adhesion force is obtained by differentiating the adhesion energy with respect to the separation distance. By optimizing the ligands for each conformation change, the adhesion force is found to be higher and the receptor is adhered closer to the surface. The strength of adhesion force also increases with the increase in the number of ligands attached. However, the presence of water molecules between the surface and the receptor has adverse effect on the adhesion strength.