Characteristics and molecular mechanism of adhesion proteins on reused hemodialysis membranes

Abstract

In order to study the mechanism of protein adhesion on the Fresenius F6 polysulfone membrane dialyzer, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, LC-ESI-MS/MS and bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the protein which adhered to the dialyzer membrane. Six of the adhered proteins account for more than 50% of the total 179 proteins, i.e. ficolin precursor, complement C3 precursor, 3 variants of MASP1 and albumin. The results also showed that easily adhered proteins have a greater percentage of acidic amino acids (p < 0.01). The isoelectric point of the 20 proteins with the most deposits is 6.2 +/- 1.08, which is obviously lower than of those with the least deposits (7.56 +/- 1.36, p < 0.01). The dipole moment of a polysulfone membrane molecule has a tendency to absorb molecules with a negative charge. These results are of significance in understanding and improving membrane protein interactions.