title: Imprinted polymers assisting protein crystallization.
abstract: Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are 'smart materials' polymerised in the presence of a template molecule, of which they retain a chemical 'memory'. When the template molecule is extracted from the polymer, it leaves behind cavities that are complementary to it, thus making the material capable of rebinding that molecule with high affinity and selectivity. Such materials, imprinted both with small molecule and with protein templates, have been used in chromatographic, chemical, and biological sensing applications. Here, we review a variety of uses for MIPs, focusing on their recently discovered role as nucleation inducing substances for protein crystals. This discovery makes them useful tailor-made 'nucleants' to be used both for optimisation of protein crystal growth and for discovering new crystallization conditions.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials, Physicochemical Processes, Nanotechnology & Microsystems, National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Athens 15310, Greece.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saridakis
authors.forename: Naomi E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Chayen
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D011506:Proteins
keywords: molecularly imprinted polymers; nucleants; nucleation; polymers; protein crystallization