Molecularly imprinted polymers for cholecystokinin C-terminal pentapeptide recognition

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been prepared from methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the functional monomer and crosslinker, respectively, for cholecystokinin C terminal pentapeptide (CCK-5), and screened for their rebinding characteristics. They were produced with alterations in the molar ratio of template/monomer/crosslinker and the percentage of net rebinding and the imprinting factor (IF) were used for the evaluation of their imprinting efficacy. The dissociation constant values determined in the case of the polymers with better characteristics, further confirmed the results above. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of MIPs were also obtained in an attempt to correlate their characteristics with polymer's morphology. Rebinding experiments with CCK-5 and CCK-8 peptides in the case of the polymer that presented higher performance, with net rebinding values 11.9 and 9%, respectively, indicated that this polymer may be a good candidate for the analysis of CCK-related peptides.