Epitope-imprinted polymers: applications in protein recognition and separation

Abstract

Advances in synthesis and applications of epitope-imprinted polymers (EIPs) for protein recognition and separation.

Plastic Antibodies Mimicking the ACE2 Receptor for Selective Binding of SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike

“…[ 10 ] Epitope imprinting requires identifying those active protein sites, synthesizing the epitope peptide, and using it as a template for molecular imprinting. [ 9 ] The resulting MIP may then recognize the entire target protein via binding of the selected epitope region to the imprinted moieties at the surface of the MIP. This approach overcomes the drawbacks of using entire proteins as templates, as the epitope structure is simpler, more resistant to the synthesis conditions, and can be more easily removed from the resulting polymer matrix.…”

“…Epitope imprinting has emerged as a suitable alternative to improve protein recognition. [ 7–9 ] An epitope is a small fragment (i.e., up to twenty amino acids) of the protein structure that acts as an active binding site, which implies that the epitope is located at the surface of the protein and may potentially interact with the corresponding receptors. [ 10 ] Epitope imprinting requires identifying those active protein sites, synthesizing the epitope peptide, and using it as a template for molecular imprinting.…”

Controlled synthesis of open-mouthed epitope-imprinted polymer nanocapsules with a PEGylated nanocore and their application for fluorescence detection of target protein

“…Till now, epitope-imprinted materials have been utilized to recognize peptides, proteins and cells, and hence show potential applications in various areas, such as disease biomarker detection, recombinant protein purication, biosensors, cancer diagnosis and therapy. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] For synthesis of epitope-imprinted polymers, surface imprinting with immobilized templates and sacricial the supports is an important way. It usually involves polymerization around the epitope templates orientedly immobilized on the surface of glass slides and other 2-D materials 26,27 or within the inner surface of macroporous silica spheres, [28][29][30][31][32] and hence the templates are fully encapsulated by the resultant polymers.…”

“…36,37 However, it is still a challenge for the synthesis of nano-sized imprinted materials with high surface-to-volume ratio by this approach, which are highly desired in the applications such as biosensors, separation and drug delivery. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] As such, we recently put forward a method for synthesis of open-mouthed epitope-imprinted polymer nanocapsules (OM-MIP NCs), 38 with asymmetrically functionalized SiO 2 Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) as the supports for the formation of incomplete imprinted polymer shells and then fully etched using NH 4 HF 2 solution. The major surface of the JNPs is immobilized with both epitope templates and vinyl groups for subsequent surface imprinting via free radical polymerization (FRP), and the remaining surface graed with polyethleneglycol (PEG) chains for prevention from local polymerization.…”

“Out of Pocket” Protein Binding—A Dilemma of Epitope Imprinted Polymers Revealed for Human Hemoglobin

“…The concentration of HbA and HbA1c in blood are routinely measured for the determination of the degree of glycated HbA-the long-term diabetic parameter [6]. Recently MIP based sensors which apply the whole spectrum of electrochemical and optical transducers made inroads in the determination of protein biomarkers [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] including SARS-COV-2 antigens [8]. For many years, Bülow's group made great efforts to create HbA-specific polymer beads for chromatographic separation of HbA variants from protein mixtures and crude cell 2 of 13 extracts [27][28][29].…”