Copolymer Hosts for Selective Protein Recognition

Significance

Free-radical copolymerization of simple methacrylamide-based monomers (e.g. 1-3) provided linear copolymers, which show protein-binding abilities. Different binding monomers, tailored for basic, aliphatic, and aromatic residues, are tested. The amino sugar based component 1 is used for increased water solubility. These new polymeric materials are conveniently characterized by ¹H and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, elemental analysis as well as fluorescence properties. In most cases, fluorescence emission intensities increased markedly upon protein binding, presumably due to the reorientation of the polymers’ binding sites towards the protein surface. Copolymer 4 displays a significant protein selectivity; it recognizes argi­nine-rich lysozyme with a remarkable K _d value of 25 nm, which is 100 times superior to cytochrome c.