Oriented immobilization of proteins on grafted porous polymers

Abstract

The modification of polymers by radiation grafting has been utilized for several decades. The penetrability of gamma rays allows to modify the internal surfaces of porous materials retaining its mechanical properties. In recent years applications of these materials to obtain chromatographic supports and biocatalysts have been reported. In this work, we described the grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto a macroporous polysulfone polymer. Reproducible amount of grafting, from 10% to 60% was obtained by choosing favourable monomer concentration and gamma radiation doses from 6 kGy up. Afterwards, iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and amino phenyl arsine oxide (PAO) were covalently attached to the grafted polyGMA, in correspondence with the grafting degree. Later on, a recombinant histidin-patch thioredoxin protein (HP-rTrx) was immobilized onto this surface by two different ways, involving specific protein orientations. The first one involves an IDA–Ni 2+ complex and three HP-rTrx’s histidines and the other one involves a co-ordination site between PAO and two proximal HP-rTrx’s cysteines, which corresponds to the active site of the enzyme. Specific polyclonal antibodies recognize HP-rTrx on the polymer. Proper orientation of the protein was confirmed by HP-rTrx activity measurements. The described procedure allows the successful oriented immobilization of a protein onto a macroporous polysulfone material.