ATTACHMENT OF (RGD)-CONTAINING SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES TO MEDICALPROSTHETIC DEVICES

THE ARG-GLY-ASP (RGD) SEQUENCE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE THE CELLBINDING DOMAIN IN SEVERAL EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX PROTEINS. PRESENTLY, THERE EXISTS A NEED TO MAKE IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES BIOCOMPATABLE AND ALLOW FOR RAPID CELLULAR INTEGRATION. PEPTITE-2000 IS A SYNTHETIC RGD CONTAINING PEPTIDE THAT SPONTANEOUSLY COATS A LARGE NUMBER OF SURFACES. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL TEST THE FEASIBILITY OFUSING THIS RGD PEPTIDE TO PROMOTE A BIOCOMPATABLE SURFACE ON COMMONLY USED IMPLANT MATERIALS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THISMETHODOLOGY WILL PROVIDE A SYNTHETIC MEANS OF PRODUCING A PHYSIOLOGICAL BINDING EPITOPE ON PROSTHETIC DEVICES, AIDING IN THE PREVENTION OF INFECTION AND FOREIGN BODY REJECTION.