The overarching goal of the BioHydroSurf project is to create a biomaterial with tailored surface, able to control cells adhesion. This will be achieved by developing a hybrid combination of hydrogel and solid non-porous material, containing biocompatible chitosan (CH)-proteins conjugates and "cold" plasma functionalized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) film.

The specific objectives are:
1. Synthesis and characterization of chitosan-proteins conjugates (CHPC) using carbodiimide coupling method.
2. Formation of hydrogels based on CHP conjugates by photo-initiated crosslinking.
3. Evaluation and optimization of photo-initiated hydrogelation of CHP conjugates.
4. “Cold” plasma functionalization of poly(lactic acid) substrate and surface immobilization of CHPC hydrogels.
5. Investigation of physico-chemical properties of surface-attached hydrogels and attempts to get an insight into the hydrogel-surface interaction mode.
6. Assessment of the biocompatibility and controllable cell adhesion of the new obtained surface-attached hydrogels platforms.