Optimization of functional monomer content in protein-imprinted polymers

We have prepared synthetic materials having binding specificity toward lysozyme using molecular imprinting. The lysozyme-imprinted polymers were prepared on silica beads using acrylic acid, acrylamide, and N, N'- methylenebisacrylamide. The molar ratio of acrylic acid to the template affected the selectivity and the maximum binding specificity was yielded with the molar ratio of 5 to 1 ( acrylic acid/template). No binding specificity toward lysozyme was observed when there was no acrylic acid, and the binding specificity decreased when the amount of acrylic acid was high. The functional monomer-template ratio indicated in this study could be useful for improving the binding specificity in molecular imprinting of proteins.