2006   Volume No 12 – pages 36 -43

Title: Activation of lymphocyte proliferation by boronate-containing polymer immobilised on substrate: The effect of boron content on lymphocyte proliferation

Author: H Otsuka, T Ikeya, T Okano, K Kataoka

Address: Department of Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

E-mail: kataoka at bmw.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Key Words: Lymphocyte, phenylboronate, boronic acid-containing polymer, artificial lectin, mitogen

Publication date: August 3rd 2006

Abstract: This study demonstrates that boronic acid-containing polymers coated onto solid support function as synthetic mitogens for mouse lymphocytes. The polymer was synthesized by radical copolymerization of 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid with dimethylacrylamide (poly(AAPBA-DMAA)). The boronic acid in the trigonal form in the copolymer activated lymphocytes, probably by crosslinkage to glycoprotein moieties on the plasma membrane surface, as in the case of lectin stimulation. A higher concentration of phenylboronic acid on the copolymer surface resulted in greater activation of lymphocytes, suggesting that the number of phenylboronic acid residues per unit area may be a crucial factor in lymphocyte proliferation. The proliferative response of lymphocytes was also affected by the surface wettability, probably due to a difference in the flexibility of polymer strands at the cell-polymer interface.

Article download: Pages 36 -43 (PDF file)