Abstract |
The synthesis of protein-polymer conjugates has undoubtedly been a much-discussed
topic in the field of polymer science. Protein-polymer conjugates have been synthesized
using different approaches with the aim to improve the solubility, stability, biodistribution
and half-life of proteins. By taking advantage of the unlimited chemical and structural
diversity of polymers, multiple properties of biomacromolecules have been significantly
enhanced through polymer bioconjugation. Additionally, the synthesis of amphiphilic
protein-polymer conjugates led to biomacromolecules with self-organizing properties
which could benefit biotechnological and medical applications such as drug delivery
systems, nanoreactors, biosensors, etc. However, since the existing "grafting from"
synthetic techniques require laborious, often harsh and disruptive deoxygenation strategies
and, "grafting to" approaches mostly result in low yields, studies on applications of proteinpolymer conjugates are still limited. To address these problems and develop a
biocompatible and environmentally friendly, synthetic approach, a novel, organocatalyzed,
oxygen tolerant, photoinduced, Eosin Y catalyzed methodology was recently developed in
the laboratory of Synthetic Biomaterials. Herein, using this novel approach, a range of
responsive and hydrophilic monomers were comprehensively screened to identify the
optimum reaction conditions leading to quantitative biomacroinitiator consumption.
Using this novel, oxygen-tolerant, photoinduced organocatalytic approach we achieved to
synthesize well-defined hybrid bioconjugates bearing different polymer moieties were
obtained and by carefully altering reaction components and conditions (such as catalyst
concentration, monomer loading, pH, cosolvent and salinity). All new protein-polymer
conjugates were thoroughly characterized (GPC, NMR, IR, UV). Additionally, the
assembling properties of protein-polymer amphiphiles, as imaged through their selfassembled architectures with microscopy, were evaluated.
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