A Specific Artificial Antibody toward Mycophenolic Acid Prepared by Molecular Imprinting

[摘要] Molecular imprinting is the preparation of polymeric materials with specific binding sites for a molecule. A monomer is allowed to interact with the molecule of interest (template) to create low-energy interactions. Polymerization is then induced with a bridging agent and heat or ultraviolet irradiation. During the process of polymerization, the molecule of interest is entrapped within the polymer, which finally can be crushed, sieved, and washed with highly polar solvents to remove the template molecule. The imprint of the template is maintained in the rigid polymer, which is usually made of plastic materials such as acrylics and styrenes. The molecular imprint contains many small crypts with shapes complementary to the interest molecule and which are stabilized by chemical groups oriented during the polymerization process in the presence of the substrate. The imprinted polymer can bind the original molecule with high specificity similar to the specificities observed in enzyme-substrate or antigen-antibody interactions. The high specificity of the binding led to the concept of artificial antibodies (1).The use of artificial antibodies in competitive assays is the most promising application of molecular imprints in clinical chemistry. It has been shown that they can replace monoclonal antibodies from animal origin in certain immunologic assays such as those for cortisol, theophylline, diazepam, morphine, s -propanolol, and methylglucoside (1). Artificial antibodies show numerous advantages compared with natural antibodies:

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学