To investigate the anti-biofouling effect of a polymer coating that combines cell membrane-mimetic phosphorylcholine groups and benzophenone (BP) photoresponsive groups on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) denture base material.

A photoreactive monomer containing BP groups, 4- (3-methacryloyloxy-2-hydroxypropyloxy) benzophenone (MHPBP), was synthesized and copolymerized with cell membrane-mimetic 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) via free-radical polymerization to prepare photoreactive three PMH polymers with different MPC/MHPBP molar ratios (9∶1, 8∶2, 7∶3). Coatings were constructed on PMMA surfaces by dip-coating followed by UV irradiation. The optimal formulation (PMH82) was selected based on water contact angle measurements. Anti-fouling performance was evaluated by protein adsorption, cell adhesion, and bacterial adhesion assays, and biocompatibility was assessed using CCK-8 and hemolysis tests. Multiple group comparisons were performed using one-way ANOVA with Tukey′s test, while comparisons between two groups were performed using independent samples t-test.

The MHPBP monomer and three polymers, PMH91, PMH82, and PMH73, were successfully synthesized. The protein adsorption amount on bare PMMA was (4.0 ± 0.5) μg/cm², which was significantly reduced to (2.6 ± 0.2) μg/cm² on the PMH82-coated surface (t = 4.8, P = 0.008). The adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) on bare PMMA was (4.2 ± 0.9) × 10⁵ and (4.3 ± 0.5) × 10⁵ CFU/cm², respectively, and these values decreased to (2.2 ± 0.2) × 10³ and (1.4 ± 0.1) × 10³ CFU/cm² on the PMH82-coated surface (t_{S. aureus} = 7.5, P_{S. aureus} = 0.002; t_{E. coli} = 13, P_{E. coli}<0.001). Cell adhesion assays showed that almost no cells adhered to the PMH82 coating. After 5 days of co-culture, cell viability exceeded 95% in the CCK-8 assay. The hemolysis rate of the coating was only (0.22 ± 0.15) %.

The polymer coating significantly inhibits cell adhesion, bacterial adhesion, and protein adsorption, exhibits good cytocompatibility and an extremely low hemolysis rate, and provides a simple and efficient chairside anti-fouling modification strategy for PMMA denture bases, showing promising prospects for clinical translation.