Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
M
OLECULAR
I
MPRINTED
P
OLYMERS
IN
B
IOMACROMOLECULES
R
ECOGNITION
Jie Hu
1,*
, Zhen Tao
2
, Shunsheng Cao
1
and Xinhua Yuan
1
1
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University,
Zhenjiang 212013, China
2
The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, China
Abstract
Molecular imprinting has proved to be an effective technique for generating specific
recognition sites in synthetic polymers. These sites are tailor-made in situ by
copolymerization of functional monomers and cross-linked around the template molecules.
The print molecules are subsequently extracted from the polymer, leaving accessible
complementary binding sites in the polymer network. Despite significant growth within the
field, the majority of template molecules studied thus far are low molecular weight
compounds and generally insoluble in aqueous systems. In biological systems, molecular
recognition occurs in aqueous media. So, in order to create molecular imprinted polymers
capable of mimicking biological processes, it is necessary to synthesize artificial receptors
which can selectively recognize the target biological macromolecules such as peptides and
proteins in aqueous media. Actually, the synthesis of molecular imprinted polymers specific
for biomacromolecules has been a focus for many scientists working in the area of molecular
recognition, since the creation of synthetic polymers that can specifically recognize
biomacromolecules is a very challenging but potentially extremely rewarding work. The
resulting molecular imprinted polymers with specificity for biological macromolecules have
considerable potential for applications in the areas of solid phase extraction, catalysis,
medicine, clinical analysis, drug delivery, environmental monitoring, and sensors. In this
review, the authors discuss the challenges associated with the imprinting of peptides and
proteins, and provide an overview of the significant progress achieved within this field. This
review offers a comparative analysis of different approaches developed, focusing on their
relative advantages and disadvantages, highlighting trends and possible future directions.
Keywords:
molecular imprinted polymers; biomacromolecules; recognition; synthetic
receptor
*
E-mail address: hujiechem@hotmail.com. Corresponding author: Jie Hu.
