Home / Department / Seminars & Events / Kenneth Shea

Kenneth Shea

Kenneth Shea

Seminar
Wed, Oct. 29, 2014, 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Taylor Auditorium
Host: David MacMillan

“Plastic Antibodies”: Synthetic Polymer Nanoparticles as Abiotic Receptors for Peptides, Proteins and Carbohydrates

Nanoparticle-protein interactionsJust as medicinal chemists routinely design and synthesize small molecules to target the active site of a single protein in the proteome, we suggest that advances in polymer synthesis, structural biology and nanotechnology have progressed to the point where we can design synthetic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) with antibody-like affinity and selectivity for targeted biomacromolecules. The talk will describe abiotic protein/peptide and carbohydrate affinity agents (“plastic antibodies”). These agents, synthetic polymer NP hydrogels, are formulated with functional groups complementary to the biomacromolecule target. Unique to these materials is that their affinity can be “turned off” simply by lowering the solution temperature, a strategy exploited in “catch and release” of target proteins The talk will be concerned with exploring the applications of these materials for protein purification and as potential therapeutic agents to replace antibody drugs.