Advances in the development of molecularly imprinted polymers for the separation and analysis of proteins with liquid chromatography

This review documents recent advances in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of molecularly imprinted polymers in the form of monoliths and particles/beads for the use in the separation and analysis of proteins with solid-phase extraction or liquid chromatography. The merits of three-dimensional molecular imprinting, whereby the molecular template is randomly embedded in the polymer, and two-dimensional imprinting, in which the template is confined to the surface, are described. Target protein binding can be achieved by either using the entire protein as a template or by using a protein substructure as template, that is, a peptide, as in the "epitope" approach. The intended approach and strategy then determine the choice of polymerization method. A synopsis has been provided on methods used for the physical, chemical, and functional characterizations and associated performance evaluations of molecularly imprinted and nonimprinted control polymers, involving a diverse range of analytical techniques commonly used for low and high molecular mass analytes. Examples of recent applications demonstrate that, due to the versatility of imprinting methods, molecularly imprinted monoliths or particles/beads can be adapted to protein extraction/depletion and separation procedures relevant to, for example, protein biomarker detection and quantification in biomedical diagnostics and targeted proteomics.

Magnetic surface molecularly imprinted poly(3-aminophenylboronic acid) for selective capture and determination of diethylstilbestrol

Imprinted poly(APBA) nanoshell on Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ surface was first synthesized and used for MSPE of diethylstilbestrol followed by HPLC determination.

Binding performance of pepsin surface-imprinted polymer particles in protein mixtures

Surface-imprinted polymer particles facilitate the accessibility of synthetic selective binding sites for proteins. Given their volume-to-surface ratio, submicron particles offer a potentially large surface area facilitating fast rebinding kinetics and high binding capacities, as investigated herein by batch rebinding experiments. Polymer particles were prepared with (3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride as functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker in the presence of pepsin as template molecule via miniemulsion polymerization. The obtained polymer particles had an average particle diameter of 623 nm, and a specific surface area of 50 m² g^-1. The dissociation constant and maximum binding capacity were obtained by fitting the Langmuir equation to the corresponding binding isotherm. The dissociation constant was 7.94 μM, thereby indicating a high affinity; the binding capacity was 0.72 μmol m^-2. The binding process was remarkably fast, as equilibrium binding was observed after just 1 min of incubation. The previously determined selectivity of the molecularly imprinted polymer for pepsin was for the first time confirmed during competitive binding studies with pepsin, bovine serum albumin, and β-lactoglobulin. Since pepsin has an exceptionally high content in acidic amino acids enabling strong interactions with positively charged quaternary ammonium groups of the functional monomers, another competitive protein, i.e., α1-acid glycoprotein, was furthermore introduced. This protein has a similarly high content in acidic amino acids, and was used for demonstrating the implications of ionic interactions on the achieved selectivity.

Advanced Evaluation Strategies for Protein-Imprinted Polymer Nanobeads

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic affinity matrices capable of selective binding a specific target molecule. A strategy for competitive selectivity studies is developed providing information on the selective binding properties of MIPs in complex matrices. Batch rebinding experiments entail the target protease, two other proteins, and MIP nanobeads. The protease is inhibited by addition of pepstatin thus quenching the degradation of the other proteins. The proteins are analyzed via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The relevance of competitive selectivity studies for the evaluation of MIP performance is further emphasized by comparison to single protein rebinding experiments.

Molecular imprinting science and technology: a survey of the literature for the years 2004-2011

Herein, we present a survey of the literature covering the development of molecular imprinting science and technology over the years 2004-2011. In total, 3779 references to the original papers, reviews, edited volumes and monographs from this period are included, along with recently identified uncited materials from prior to 2004, which were omitted in the first instalment of this series covering the years 1930-2003. In the presentation of the assembled references, a section presenting reviews and monographs covering the area is followed by sections describing fundamental aspects of molecular imprinting including the development of novel polymer formats. Thereafter, literature describing efforts to apply these polymeric materials to a range of application areas is presented. Current trends and areas of rapid development are discussed.

Photolithographic boronate affinity molecular imprinting: a general and facile approach for glycoprotein imprinting

Better than expected: With a regular boronic acid as the functional monomer, a general and facile approach for glycoprotein imprinting exhibited several highly favorable features that are beyond normal expectation, which make the prepared MIPs feasible for the recognition of trace glycoproteins in complicated real samples.

Challenges for the effective molecular imprinting of proteins

Molecular imprinting is a technique that is used to create artificial receptors by the formation of a polymer network around a template molecule. This technique has proven to be particularly effective for molecules with low molecular weight (<1500 Da), and during the past five years the number of research articles on the imprinting of larger (bio)templates is increasing considerably. However, expanding the methodology toward imprinted materials for selective recognition of proteins, DNA, viruses and bacteria appears to be extremely challenging. This paper presents a critical analysis of data presented by several authors and our own experiments, showing that the molecular imprinting of proteins still faces some fundamental challenges. The main topics of concern are proper monomer selection, washing method/template removal, quantification of the rebinding and reproducibility. Use of charged monomers can lead to strong electrostatic interactions between monomers and template but also to undesired high aspecific binding. Up till now, it has not been convincingly shown that electrostatic interactions lead to better imprinting results. The combination of a detergent (SDS) and AcOH, commonly used for template removal, can lead to experimental artifacts, and should ideally be avoided. In many cases template rebinding is unreliably quantified, results are not evaluated critically and lack statistical analysis. Therefore, it can be argued that presently, in numerous publications the scientific evidence of molecular imprinting of proteins is not convincing.

Preparation of core-shell magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles for recognition of bovine hemoglobin

Imprinting nanoparticles: Core-shell bovine hemoglobin (BHb) imprinted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with a mean diameter of 210 nm have been synthesized for the first time. The imprinted magnetic nanoparticles could easily reach the adsorption equilibrium and magnetic separation under an external magnetic field, thus avoiding problems related to the bulk polymer. In this work, the core-shell bovine hemoglobin (BHb) imprinted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with a mean diameter of 210 nm were synthesized for the first time. In this protocol, the initial step involved co-precipitation of Fe(2+) and Fe(3+) in an ammonia solution. Silica was then coated on the Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles using a sol-gel method to obtain silica shell magnetic nanoparticles. Subsequently, 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA), which is the functional and cross-linking monomer, and poly(APBA) thin films were coated onto the silica-modified Fe(3)O(4) surface through oxidation with ammonium persulfate in an aqueous solution in the presence or absence of protein. The morphology, adsorption, and recognition properties of the magnetic molecularly imprinted nanomaterial were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Rebinding experiments were carried out to establish the equilibrium time and to determine the specific binding capacity and selective recognition. The protein adsorption results showed that poly(APBA) MIPs-coated magnetic nanoparticles have high adsorption capacity for template protein BHb and comparatively low non-specific adsorption. The imprinted magnetic nanoparticles could easily reach the adsorption equilibrium and magnetic separation under an external magnetic field, thus avoiding problems related to the bulk polymer. We believe that the imprinted polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles can be one of the most promising candidates for various applications, which include chemical and biochemical separation, cell sorting, recognition elements in biosensors, and drug delivery.