Smart polymers for biomedical applications are presently one focuses in biomedical materials research. We have been developing switchable surface traps that can offer the potential to develop new technologies in many fields such as regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and diagnosis. Temperature-responsive cell culture dishes with nanometer-sized surface-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), for example, allows the cultivation of anchor-dependent mammalian cells at 37�C (above the lower critical solution temperature; LCST), and intact cell sheets can be collected after reducing temperature below the LCST. PNIPAAm-based polymeric system can also allow nanoparticles to be processed in aqueous medium using temperature as a single on-off parameter controlling particle growing, stabilization and fast disentanglement. We have further been combining them with peptides and saccharide groups to switch cell recognition processes on and off reversibly by blocking and unblocking the recognition sites. These actions can be easily stimulated by small changes in temperature.

Design of smart polymer conjugates with peptides and saccharides that provide on-off switches to surface capture/release of cells

241st National Meeting (2011)

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