Fibrinogen adsorbs from aqueous media to microscopic droplets of poly(dimethylsiloxane) and remains coagulable

Fibrinogen binds from aqueous media containing it to droplets of linear trimethylsilyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) dispersed in those same media. Once bound, fibrinogen elutes from emulsified droplets of PDMS only very slowly, even when incubated in buffer that contains a physiologic concentration of the protein. The bound fibrinogen is coagulable, as indicated by the thrombin-dependent agglutination of droplets. Thus fibrinogen bound to droplets of PDMS renders an adhesive potential to the surface of the droplets, a potential that may have relevance to the biologic processing of the polymer in vivo.