Hemiao Cui1, Gang L. Liu2, and Graciela W. Padua1
1Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Zein is a biocompatible corn protein potentially useful in the development of biomaterials. In this study, the deposition of zein on oxygen plasma treated glass cover slips significantly enhanced cell spreading and viability. The mechanism for cellular response to zein coated surfaces was thought to involve the polyglutamine peptides on the zein structure. We hypothesized that zein was a substrate for tissue transglutaminase (tTG), an extracellular enzyme involved in cell-surface interactions. SDS-PAGE results suggested an interaction between zein and tTG, where zein was the glutamine donor. Cross-linking between zein and tTG may be the first step in successful cell adhesion and spreading.