Synthesis and characterization of biomimetic nanogels for immunorecognition

Biomimetic nanoparticles are promising materials for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Cationic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) nanogels containing charged amine groups brought by addition of 2-aminoethylmethacrylate hydrochloride (AEMH) or N-(3-aminopropyl) methacrylamide hydrochloride (APMH) as co-monomers were prepared by surfactant-free precipitation polymerization. The influence of the relative amount and mode of addition of the co-monomer on both the size and the amine group density of the nanogel particles was studied. Two nanogels, one prepared using APMH (1% mol/mol NIPAM, in batch) and another with AEMH (2% mol/mol NIPAM, by shot addition) as co-monomers, were selected for the covalent coupling of a Protein L-mimic ligand to free amine groups on the particles. The ability of the synthesized biomimetic nanoparticles for recognizing and binding human IgG (hIgG) molecules was assessed and the selectivity toward immunoglobulin molecules evaluated.