Abstract
In this study, temperature-responsive polymer-protein conjugate was synthesized using a “grafting from” concept by introducing a chain transfer agent (CTA) into bovine serum albumin (BSA). The BSA-CTA was used as a starting point for poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) through reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The research investigations suggest that the thermally responsive behavior of PNIPAAm was controlled by the monomer ratio to CTA, as well as the amount of CTA introduced to BSA. The study further synthesized the human serum albumin (HSA)-PNIPAAm conjugate, taking the advantage that HSA can specifically adsorb indoxyl sulfate (IS) as a uremic toxin. The HSA-PNIPAAm conjugate could capture IS and decreased the concentration by about 40% by thermal precipitation. It was also revealed that the protein activity was not impaired by the conjugation with PNIPAAm. The proposed strategy is promising in not only removal of uremic toxins but also enrichment of biomarkers for early diagnostic applications.
Highlights
Polymer-protein conjugates (PPCs) have been extensively developed in the last decades both in academic and industrial areas
Conjugation of the chain transfer agent (CTA) to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was confirmed by UV spectroscopy
This shows a quantitative relationship between the introduced CTA group and modified amino residue, suggesting that the amount of CTA introduced can be controlled by feeding ratio of NHS-CTA
Summary
Polymer-protein conjugates (PPCs) have been extensively developed in the last decades both in academic and industrial areas. Introduction of polymers into protein makes it possible for new functionalities such as improving solubility, enhancing dispersibility and inhibiting proteolytic enzymes. Such approaches are known to have promising applications as therapeutic and/or diagnostic technologies [1]. There are two common strategies for introducing polymers into proteins in PPCs: “Grafting to” (GT) approach bonds pre-synthesized polymers to proteins with functional groups by reactive coupling. “Grafting from” (GF) approach, on the other hand, initiates site for polymerization in aqueous solution through functionalized protein [2]
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