iBodies: Modular Synthetic Antibody Mimetics Based on Hydrophilic Polymers Decorated with Functional Moieties |
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Authors: | Dr. Pavel Šácha Tomáš Knedlík Dr. Jiří Schimer Dr. Jan Tykvart Jan Parolek Václav Navrátil Petra Dvořáková Dr. František Sedlák Prof. Karel Ulbrich Dr. Jiří Strohalm Dr. Pavel Majer Dr. Vladimír Šubr Dr. Jan Konvalinka |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Prague 6, Czech Republic;2. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague 2, Czech Republic;3. First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 2, Czech Republic;4. Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Prague 6, Czech Republic |
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Abstract: | Antibodies are indispensable tools for biomedicine and anticancer therapy. Nevertheless, their use is compromised by high production costs, limited stability, and difficulty of chemical modification. The design and preparation of synthetic polymer conjugates capable of replacing antibodies in biomedical applications such as ELISA, flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, and immunoprecipitation is reported. The conjugates, named “iBodies”, consist of an HPMA copolymer decorated with low‐molecular‐weight compounds that function as targeting ligands, affinity anchors, and imaging probes. We prepared specific conjugates targeting several proteins with known ligands and used these iBodies for enzyme inhibition, protein isolation, immobilization, quantification, and live‐cell imaging. Our data indicate that this highly modular and versatile polymer system can be used to produce inexpensive and stable antibody substitutes directed toward virtually any protein of interest with a known ligand. |
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Keywords: | antibody mimetics HPMA molecular recognition polymer conjugates protein targeting |
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