9.17 - Protein–Polymer Conjugates

Bioconjugates are increasingly important in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and medicine. These hybrid materials consist of a synthetic macromolecule linked to a biomolecule such as a peptide or protein. Both the method used to produce the synthetic molecule and the technique of attachment to the biomolecule are important to the overall properties of the biohybrid. This chapter focuses on this emerging field of biotechnology and on the use of two controlled radical polymerization techniques, atom transfer radical polymerization and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, to create protein–polymer conjugates. The techniques of grafting to and grafting from are summarized, along with application of the resulting conjugates as therapeutics and nanocapsules.