Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

SYLS: Life Sciences on the Nanometer Scale - Physics Meets Biology

SYLS 3: Symposium "Life Sciences on the Nanometer Scale - Physics Meets Biology"

SYLS 3.25: Poster

Wednesday, March 10, 2004, 16:00–18:30, B

Protein adsorption on tailored substrates — •Hubert Mantz, Anthony W. Quinn, and Karin Jacobs — Experimental Physics, Saarland University, POB 151 150, 66041 Saarbrücken

It has long been established that bacterial plaque plays an essential role in the development of oral diseases such as dental caries. Dental plaque consists of a diversity of different components, which makes it difficult to determine the mechanism for their formation and growth. Understanding them would enhance the field of preventative dentistry enabling restorative materials to be tailored to resist bacterial attachment or have some antibacterial effect.

We try to get an insight in these mechanisms by using ellipsometry, a non-destructive optical method for determining film thickness and optical properties of the sample to be studied. These experiments can measure the adsorption kinetics of purified salivary proteins on tailored substrates. By using AFM and wettability analysis, the composition of the surfaces can be controlled and described.