Factors ruling protein adsorption

In this short review an introduction to the phenomenon of protein adsorption will be given. Protein adsorption often plays the central role in a wide variety of processes occurring in medicine, biochemistry, biotechnology and daily life. The main types of interactions ruling protein adsorption are summarized in this review and the principles of a few powerful experimental techniques to characterize protein adsorbates are outlined. Taking the silica/water interface as an example, the driving forces for protein adsorption are discussed on the basis of recent experimental results. Finally, the interactions of proteins with polyelectrolyte brushes are described. These brushes combine favourable properties of other interfaces and permit a controlled immobilization of protein molecules.