ADAPTABLE SYNTHETIC POLYMERS AS PROTEIN AND PEPTIDE AFFINITY LIGANDS. AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE LOCK AND KEY PARADIGM

Synthetic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) with the capacity to selectively bind target proteins are of significant interest as abiotic alternatives to biological affinity reagents, most commonly antibodies. In nature, antibodies recognize antigens by combinations of weak complementary interactions with the surface of the protein target. To mimic these interactions, polymer NPs have been developed with high protein affinity by screening optimized combinations and ratios of monomers with charged, hydrophilic, hydrophobic or aromatic functional groups complementary to exposed amino acid residues of the target biomacromolecule. We will describe several strategies for identifying abiotic protein affinity reagents for applications in protein isolation/purification, toxicity neutralization, disease diagnostics and therapeutics.