Culturon:
Improving science at the atomic level.
Culturon was started in 2022 with core technology already developed by Prof Marcela Bilek from the University (School of Physics). The game-changing technology that underpins the covalent attachment of biomolecules to surfaces, in our case cell culture plates and dishes and immunodiagnostics plates, has been studied by Prof Bilek’s group for over 20 years.
Science has a plastics problem.
Traditional plastic surfaces in scientific research pose a significant challenge for biomolecule attachment, critical for various assays and experiments. These plastics naturally repel biomolecules due to their hydrophobic properties, preventing effective binding and interaction necessary for accurate scientific outcomes.
This limitation forces researchers to rely on inefficient and often toxic chemical linkers to modify surfaces, complicating procedures and potentially affecting the biological activity of the molecules involved.
Culturon addresses the challenges posed by traditional plastics with our innovative plasma-treated surfaces. Our technology enables direct, covalent attachment of biomolecules to surfaces without the need for toxic chemical linkers, improving both the reliability and accuracy of assays.
Our Solution.
Plasma- The fourth state of matter.
Plasma is the stuff stars are made of (in this case, not the liquid phase of blood but a state of matter). For those of us who aren’t physicists, this simplest explanation is that if we put energy into a solid, we get a liquid. Put more energy into the liquid and we get a gas, and put yet more energy into that gas, we get a plasma.
In the case of our plates and dishes, the gas mixture in the plasma generates a nanometres-thin coating containing radicals. The unpaired electrons in the radicals have a remarkable property of being able to bind to biomolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates (sugars), lipids (fats) and nucleic acid (DNA and RNA).
Physisorption vs
Covalent binding.
The radicals in the plasma-activated coating (PAC) create strong binding of the biomolecule to the surface, this is termed covalent binding. Covalent binding means that electrons from one atom are shared with other atoms. The binding is very strong and cannot be washed away by detergent. The biomolecule in essence becomes part of the plate or dish.
The majority of cell culture products with a protein coating or ELISA plates with antibodies attached show what is termed physisorption. This is a form of non-covalent bonding involving weaker interactions such as hydrogen bonds, electrostatic interactions and ionic bonds. These can be washed away by stringent detergent or under cell culture conditions over time.
