Site-Specific Conjugation of Polymers to Proteins. 2018

Yanjing Wang, and Chi Wu
Department of Chemistry , The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Shatin, New Territories , Hong Kong , China.

Conjugation of polymer to protein has been widely employed in therapeutics, medicine, biotechnology, and enzymatic catalysis. The synergistic effect benefits both counterparts and potentially overcomes their inherent limitations. This article reviews the strategies for the site-specific synthesis of well-defined protein-polymer conjugates, aiming to provide a toolbox for the community. First, it is essential to set a definite reactive site on the protein because the position of the reaction site can directly influence the reaction activity and the bioactivity of the protein after modification. The origins of the specific functional groups on protein include the utilization of the unique natural amino acid, mutagenesis to introduce a sole reactive amino acid, chemical modification, noncanonical amino acid incorporation, and enzyme-mediated introduction of functional groups. Second, the main conjugation methods, i.e., "grafting to" and "grafting from" methods, are summarized and compared with each other. In the "grafting to" method, a comprehensive investigation on the reactions used to attach an end functional polymer chain to a protein is conducted according to the position of the target site and its nature. In the "grafting from" method, a comparison between the commonly used controlled polymerization, i.e., atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition-fragmentation transfer (RAFT), is surveyed. Further, a special case where a noncovalent bond is adopted to link the protein and polymer together is investigated due to its high specificity and reversibility, typically biotin-(strept)avidin-based interactions and metal-mediated conjugation. Finally, applications of protein-polymer conjugates in drug delivery, biomedicine, biosensor, and the disease-related protein self-assembly are illustrated. This precise review on the conjugation of polymer chain to protein to form well-defined protein-polymer conjugates summarizes the representative strategies and may provide useful cues in the areas of biotechnology, therapeutic drugs, and biomedicine.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008670 Metals Electropositive chemical elements characterized by ductility, malleability, luster, and conductance of heat and electricity. They can replace the hydrogen of an acid and form bases with hydroxyl radicals. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed) Metal
D011108 Polymers Compounds formed by the joining of smaller, usually repeating, units linked by covalent bonds. These compounds often form large macromolecules (e.g., BIOPOLYMERS; PLASTICS). Polymer
D011506 Proteins Linear POLYPEPTIDES that are synthesized on RIBOSOMES and may be further modified, crosslinked, cleaved, or assembled into complex proteins with several subunits. The specific sequence of AMINO ACIDS determines the shape the polypeptide will take, during PROTEIN FOLDING, and the function of the protein. Gene Products, Protein,Gene Proteins,Protein,Protein Gene Products,Proteins, Gene
D004798 Enzymes Biological molecules that possess catalytic activity. They may occur naturally or be synthetically created. Enzymes are usually proteins, however CATALYTIC RNA and CATALYTIC DNA molecules have also been identified. Biocatalyst,Enzyme,Biocatalysts
D000596 Amino Acids Organic compounds that generally contain an amino (-NH2) and a carboxyl (-COOH) group. Twenty alpha-amino acids are the subunits which are polymerized to form proteins. Amino Acid,Acid, Amino,Acids, Amino
D001671 Biochemistry The study of the composition, chemical structures, and chemical reactions of living things.
D001710 Biotin A water-soluble, enzyme co-factor present in minute amounts in every living cell. It occurs mainly bound to proteins or polypeptides and is abundant in liver, kidney, pancreas, yeast, and milk. Vitamin H,Biodermatin,Biokur,Biotin Gelfert,Biotin Hermes,Biotin-Ratiopharm,Biotine Roche,Deacura,Gabunat,Medebiotin,Medobiotin,Rombellin,Biotin Ratiopharm,Gelfert, Biotin,Hermes, Biotin,Roche, Biotine
D016296 Mutagenesis Process of generating a genetic MUTATION. It may occur spontaneously or be induced by MUTAGENS. Mutageneses
D055550 Protein Stability The ability of a protein to retain its structural conformation or its activity when subjected to physical or chemical manipulations. Protein Stabilities,Stabilities, Protein,Stability, Protein
D058105 Polymerization Chemical reaction in which monomeric components are combined to form POLYMERS (e.g., POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE). Polymerizations

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