Researchers exploring personalized medicine often dose cells with targeting nanoparticles, and it is known that nanoparticle uptake can depend- on the quantity of biomarker-specific sites (e.g. protein antibodies) present on the nanoparticle surface. Hence, designing a bio-conjugation platform which produces nanoparticles that have a high number of surface-linked biomarker-specific sites has recently attracted considerable attention.<br/>Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is an FDA approved synthetic polymer which has been used in biomedicine as an agent for drug/gene delivery. In this study, poly (methyl methacrylate)-co-2-aminomethacrylamide nanoparticles (PMMANPs) were synthesized and stabilized with either a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) or a cross-linker [poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate, PEG-DA], then post-synthetically conjugated to a FITC labeled protein, BSA. Post-synthetic conjugation was accomplished using a commercially available NHS-maleimide linker system, which permits the BSA-amine conjugation. Success of post-synthetic BSA conjugation for each stabilizer was indirectly determined by measuring the fluorescence intensity of the labeled BSA. For both stabilizers, the PMMA NPs were able to conjugate to FITC-BSA, but in stark contrast, the fluorescence microscopy data reveals that crosslinker-stabilized PMMA NPs exhibit a higher FITC intensity than surfactant-stabilized PMMA NPs; this suggests that more conjugated BSA protein associated with the PEG-DA stabilized PMMA NP. Thus, stabilization via a crosslinker may be more appealing for researchers investigating personalized medicine.

New synthesis methodology for making FITC labeled PMMA nanoparticles: Understanding effect of crosslinked vs. surfactant-stabilized nanoparticles on conjugation

2019 Fall National Meeting

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