Recent Advances in the Study of Protein Imprinting

Abstract

Molecular imprinting is an important tool for generating synthetic receptors with specific recognition sites. The resulting artificial receptor has extensive applications in chromatographic stationary phases, solid phase extraction, catalysis, drug delivery and sensors. The synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) specific for proteins has been proved challenging due to a number of inherent problems in protein imprinting but potentially rewarding work. Hence, this review discusses recent advances in various synthetic protocols developed to overcome the obstacles, focusing on their advantages, disadvantages and potential future direction. In addition, the case of the selection of the functional monomers has also been reviewed here.

Keywords:

• Molecular imprinting
• protein recognition
• monomer selection

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No. 2007914101), the National Science Foundation of China (No. 20675040) and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 06YFJMJC02800 & No. 07JCYBJC00500).