METAL-COPOLYMER COMPLEXES OF N-ISOPROPYLACRYLAMIDE FOR AFFINITY PRECIPITATION OF PROTEINS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Copolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) with styrene derivative of iminodiacetic acid (st-IDA) and 1-vinylimidazole (VI) were synthesized by radical copolymerization and metal complexation characteristics of the copolymers were investigated. The theromoprecipitation property of the copolymers indicate the application of Cu(II) loaded copolymer of poly(VI/NIPAM) as a potential carrier for the metal chelate affinity precipitation of proteins. The studies carried out on the purification of protein inhibitors from different cereals, suggest the specific interaction of metal ions bound on the copolymer and the histidine residues on the surface of the target protein. The recovered copolymers could be reloaded with metal ions and can be reused number of times with high efficiency.