Shell-core imprinted polyacrylamide crosslinked chitosan for albumin removal from plasma

Molecularly imprinted polymeric beads were prepared using albumin as the imprinted molecule, acrylamide as the functional monomer, and epichlorhydrin crosslinked chitosan beads as the supporting matrix. The recognition and binding of the imprinted beads was also tested with human plasma for the targeted removal of HSA. Plasma is a rich source of biochemical products that can act as biomarkers of disease or physiological status of a patient. The application of current proteomic technologies in the search for potential diagnostic/prognostic indicators in the plasma of patients is limited by highly abundant albumin that constitute > 60% of the total plasma proteins. Removal of abundant proteins will help in the discovery and detection of less abundant proteins that may prove to be informative. The adsorption capacities of the imprinted polymeric beads for pure human serum albumin and plasma albumin were estimated as 92% and 80%, respectively. The easy preparation protocol of derivatised beads and good protein recognition properties make them attractive for biotechnologic approaches. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.