Synthesis of artificial chaperones in a novel type of Pickering emulsion for glycoprotein

Abstract

Novel particles of poly(DVB-co-PBA) were synthesized by a one-step solvothermal route instead of distillation precipitation polymerization (DPP), which was simple to operate. The poly(DVB-co-PBA) showed excellent versatility in the preparation of functional materials. On the one hand, it could be applied to the preparation of a sugar fluorescent sensor due to the features of molecular recognition of cis-diol-containing compounds and fluorescence; on the other hand, it showed flexibility in the preparation of a Pickering emulsion. Further, the core–shell microspheres named W-type and W-II type were synthesized in emulsions of water-in-toluene and water-in-chloroform with stabilizers of poly(DVB-co-PBA), respectively. The core–shell microspheres named O-type were synthesized in the emulsion of oil-in-water with stabilizers poly(DVB-co-PBA)@L-Cys. The W-type polymer microspheres were used as thermally stable materials for the glycoprotein of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to study the change of conformation and catalytic activity of HRP under heat stress through methods of UV-vis spectrophotometry, circular dichroism spectroscopy, ANS probe, chromogenic substrates, FITC fluorescence labelling, TEM and enzyme catalysis reaction. The results showed the W-type polymer microspheres with a core of hydrophilic/hydrophobic moieties reaching 2/1 could effectively maintain the natural conformation of HRP and longer catalytic activity under heat stress.