Preparation of poly(methyl methacrylate) microspheres modified with amino acid moieties

Poly(methyl methacrylate) microspheres [poly(SerMA-co-MMA), poly(AlaMAm-co-MMA), poly(AlaEMA-co-MMA), and poly(AlaMAm/AlaEMA-co-MMA)] modified with O-methacryloyl-L-serine (SerMA), N-methacryloyl-L-alanine (AlaMAm) and L-alanine 2-methacryloyloxyethyl ester (AlaEMA) were prepared by the emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with SerMA, AlaMAm and AlaEMA, respectively, initiated with 2,2′-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane] dihydrochloride (ABIP). The series of polymer microspheres showed unimodal distribution of the particle size (290–800 nm) in water. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy it was concluded that the amino acid moieties are located on the surface of the particles in all cases. Poly(SerMA-co-MMA) showed the most effective suppression of adsorption of proteins such as albumin (Alb), γ-globulin (Glo) and fibrinogen (Fib) among the examined poly(methylmethacrylate) microspheres.