Surface Immobilized Glycopolymers

Abstract

Synthetic glycopolymers that are able to interact with lectins as multivalent ligands in a similar manner to natural glycans, have emerged as good candidates for carbohydrate-related research due to their relatively convenient synthesis and structure design. Surface immobilized glycopolymers, similar to glycocalyx on cell surface, are excellent platforms for investigating the recognition and adhesion among cells, bacterial and biomaterials and for fabricating improved biomaterials. The fabrication of glycopolymer immobilized surfaces by either “grafting to,” “grafting from” or “grafting through” approaches have been discussed. For the “grafting to” approach, typical examples include using thiol-gold or silane coupling, isourea bond formation, isocyanate-alcohol (NCO-OH) reaction, Cu(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) click reaction, the avidin-biotin complex (ABC) strategy, catechol-based adhesion and the combination of LBL and host-guest chemistry. “Grafting from” approaches include conventional free radical polymerization and control/living radical polymerizations such as ATRP, SET-LRP and RAFT. Immobilization of vinyl groups on surface and the immobilization of glycopolymers via “grafting through” approach have also been discussed. In the part about applications, the glycopolymer immobilized surfaces have shown variable biological applications by interaction with proteins, bacteria and cells, and other applications like patterning of proteins and fabricating nano-defined quantum dots.