MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED POLYMERS: TOWARDS RECEPTOR MIMICS FOR DRUG DISCOVERY

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are based on selective recognition properties of synthetic cross-linked materials possessing cavities complementary to a template molecule. In recent years, MIPs received an increasing attention in the field of natural products for their application in the drug discovery process. In this work, new synthesis strategies were developed to obtain imprinted cavities able to mimic the flexibility and mobility exhibited by receptor/enzyme binding pockets. Bulk polymerization (BP), precipitation polymerization (PP) and suspension polymerization (SP) were investigated to obtain optimal chromatographic materials. The polymers were evaluated as chromatographic sorbents in order to confirm the presence of imprinted cavities and to evaluate their selectivity. The best results were obtained for MIPs prepared by the SP method. Thanks to the improved chromatographic efficiency afforded by SP, the developed MIPs are highly promising for the screening of lead compounds from complex systems such as natural products.