| Abstract: | We have been designing and synthesizing synthetic polymers that mimic viral fusogenic peptides, which contain peptide residues having alkyl groups and carboxyl groups. We have synthesized two different types of such polymers, and their abilities to hemolyse red blood cells at pH 7.4 and 5.5 are compared here. The polymers are poly(2‐alkylacrylic acid)s such as poly(2‐propylacrylic acid), and random copolymers of poly(alkyl acrylate‐co‐acrylic acid) where the alkyl group is propyl or butyl. We have found that the poly(2‐alkylacrylic acid)s such as poly(2‐propylacrylic acid) are significantly more hemolytic at acidic pH than the random copolymers of equivalent propyl and carboxyl contents. |
