Nanospines incorporation into the structure of the hydrophobic cryogels via novel cryogelation method: An alternative sorbent for plasmid DNA purification

Cryogels and Monoliths: Promising Tools for Chromatographic Purification of Nucleic Acids

The increasing demand for highly pure biopharmaceuticals has put significant pressure on the biotechnological industry to innovate in production and purification processes. Nucleic acid purification, crucial for gene therapy and vaccine production, presents challenges due to the unique physical and chemical properties of these molecules. Meeting regulatory standards necessitates large quantities of biotherapeutic agents of high purity. While conventional chromatography offers versatility and efficiency, it suffers from drawbacks like low flow rates and binding capacity, as well as high mass transfer resistance. Recent advancements in continuous beds, including monoliths and cryogel-based systems, have emerged as promising solutions to overcome these limitations. This review explores and evaluates the latest progress in chromatography utilizing monolithic and cryogenic supports for nucleic acid purification.

Investigation of Thermodynamic, Kinetic, and Isothermal Parameters for the Selective Adsorption of Bisphenol A

Herein, a novel imprinted solid-phase extraction cartridge was fabricated to investigate the kinetic, thermodynamic, and isothermal parameters for the selective adsorption of Bisphenol A (BPA). The imprinted polymeric cartridges (BMC) for the BPA adsorption were fabricated in the presence of a template and functional monomer using the in situ polymerization technique. To prove the efficiency and selectivity of BMC, the nonimprinted polymeric cartridges (BNC) and the empty polymeric cartridges (EC) were also fabricated with and without functional monomer using the same manner for the preparation of BMC. The characterization of cartridges was performed by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements, and swelling tests. BPA removal studies were performed by analyzing some parameters such as temperature, BPA concentration, flow rate, salt type, and concentration. The highest capacity was determined as 103.2 mg BPA/g polymer for a 0.75 mL/min flow rate of 0.75 M (NH₄)₂SO₄ containing 200 mg/L BPA solution at 50 °C. NaOH (1.0 M) was used as a desorption agent. The reusability performance was examined by performing 10 consecutive cycles. The solid-phase extraction (SPE) performance was also checked to determine the enrichment and extraction recovery factors for tap water and synthetic wastewater samples. Temkin, Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models were applied to BPA adsorption data examining the adsorption mechanism, surface properties, and adsorption degree. The most suitable isotherm model for BPA adsorption was determined as the Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS°) were investigated to reveal the thermodynamics of adsorption. Adsorption thermodynamic parameters (ΔH°, ΔS°, and ΔG°) were calculated using the thermodynamic equilibrium constant (thermodynamic equilibrium constant, K°) values that change with temperature. It was determined that BPA adsorption was spontaneous (ΔG° < 0) and endothermic (ΔH° > 0) and entropy increased (ΔS° > 0) at the temperatures studied in the BPA adsorption process. The rate control step in the adsorption process was examined by applying pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models to the adsorption data for the investigations of BPA adsorption kinetics, and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was found to be more suitable for describing BPA adsorption kinetics. In examining the selectivity of cartridges, structural analogues of hydroquinone, phenol, β-estradiol, and 8-hydroxyquinoline were tested.

Synthesis and characterization of albumin imprinted polymeric hydrogel membranes for proteomic studies

In this presented study, a novel molecularly imprinted polymeric hydrogel membranes (PHMs) were developed to use for the albumin depletion studies. For this, albumin imprinted poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-N-methacryloyl-(L)-phenylalanine methyl ester) polymeric hydrogel membranes [p(HEMA-MAP) PHMs] were synthesized by the photopolymerization technique, and then characterized by SEM, EDX, FT-IR and swelling studies. Synthesized PHMs had spherical structure and the MAP monomer incorporation onto the PHMs was determined by EDX analysis by using nitrogen stoichiometry. Also, the swelling ratio of the albumin imprinted p(HEMA-MAP) PHMs was determined as 215%. The optimum albumin adsorption condition (adsorption capacity, medium pH, adsorption rate, temperature, ionic strength) were studied and the maximum albumin adsorption capacity was found to be as 34.28 mg/g PHMs. Selectivity experiments were also carried out with the presence of the competitive proteins such as lysozyme and amylase, and the results demonstrated that the albumin imprinted p(HEMA-MAP) PHMs showed high affinity towards the BSA molecules than the competitive proteins of lysozyme and amylase. Adsorbed albumin was desorbed from the PHMs by 1.0 M of NaCl, and the reusability of the imprinted PHMs was also demonstrated for five successive adsorption-desorption cycles without any significant loss in the albumin adsorption capacity. As an application, sodium-dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to indicate the albumin depletion efficiency of albumin imprinted p(HEMA-MAP) PHMs. This presented study showed that, these imprinted membranes are promising for proteomic studies and applications, and can be used for the investigations for human diagnostics.

Molecular Imprinting Applications in Forensic Science

Producing molecular imprinting-based materials has received increasing attention due to recognition selectivity, stability, cast effectiveness, and ease of production in various forms for a wide range of applications. The molecular imprinting technique has a variety of applications in the areas of the food industry, environmental monitoring, and medicine for diverse purposes like sample pretreatment, sensing, and separation/purification. A versatile usage, stability and recognition capabilities also make them perfect candidates for use in forensic sciences. Forensic science is a demanding area and there is a growing interest in molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in this field. In this review, recent molecular imprinting applications in the related areas of forensic sciences are discussed while considering the literature of last two decades. Not only direct forensic applications but also studies of possible forensic value were taken into account like illicit drugs, banned sport drugs, effective toxins and chemical warfare agents in a review of over 100 articles. The literature was classified according to targets, material shapes, production strategies, detection method, and instrumentation. We aimed to summarize the current applications of MIPs in forensic science and put forth a projection of their potential uses as promising alternatives for benchmark competitors.

PolyAdenine cryogels for fast and effective RNA purification

Cryogels are used effectively for many diverse applications in a variety of fields. The isolation or purification of RNA, one of the potential utilizations for cryogels, is crucial due to their vital roles such as encoding, decoding, transcription and translation, and gene expression. RNA principally exists within every living thing, but their tendency to denaturation easily is still the most challenging issue. Herein, we aimed to develop adenine incorporated polymeric cryogels as an alternative sorbent for cost-friendly and fast RNA purification with high capacity. For this goal, we synthesized the polymerizable derivative of adenine called as adenine methacrylate (AdeM) through the substitution reaction between adenine and methacryloyl chloride. Then, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)-based cryogels were prepared in a partially frozen aqueous medium by copolymerization of monomers, AdeM, and HEMA. The cryogels were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface area measurements, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and swelling tests. RNA adsorption experiments were performed via batch system while varying different conditions including pH, initial RNA concentration, temperature, and interaction time. We achieved high RNA adsorption capacity of cryogels, with the swelling ratio around 510%, as 11.86mg/g. The cryogels might be reused at least five times without significant decrease in adsorption capacity.

Synthesis of a specific monolithic column with artificial recognition sites for L-glutamic acid via cryo-crosslinking of imprinted nanoparticles

In this study, a new molecular imprinting (MIP)-based monolithic cryogel column was prepared using chemically crosslinked molecularly imprinted nanoparticles, to achieve a simplified chromatographic separation (SPE) for a model compound, L-glutamic acid (L-Glu). Cryogelation through crosslinking of imprinted nanoparticles forms stable monolithic cryogel columns. This technique reduces the leakage of nanoparticles and increases the surface area, while protecting the structural features of the cryogel for stable and efficient recognition of the template molecule. A non-imprinted monolithic cryogel column (NIP) was also prepared, using non-imprinted nanoparticles produced without the addition of L-Glu during polymerization. The molecularly imprinted monolithic cryogel column (MIP) indicates apparent recognition selectivity and a good adsorption capacity compared to the NIP. Also, we have achieved a significant increase in the adsorption capacity, using the advantage of high surface area of the nanoparticles.

Simultaneous depletion of immunoglobulin G and albumin from human plasma using novel monolithic cryogel columns

In this study, we aimed to develop an alternative matrix able to deplete the albumin (Alb) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) from blood plasma simultaneously to prepare plasma samples for large-scale applications of blood-related proteomics. As a first step, nano-protein A nanoparticles (nanoProA) were prepared and characterized. Subsequently, cibacron blue F3GA (CB) was immobilized onto the nanoProA's to enhance their specific affinity for Alb molecules. Finally, both nanoparticles, specifically, nanoProA and CB-nanoProA, were separately embedded into cryogel structures to combine advantages of the nanoparticles with those of the cryogels. The protein adsorption was optimized using aqueous Alb and IgG solutions separately. Subsequently, competitive protein adsorption was performed using a protein mixture prepared with Alb and IgG adhering to their plasma protein ratios. Because of the CB-immobilization, the Alb depletion performance of the cryogels increased whereas the IgG depleting performance decreased. Using the nanoProA, embedded cryogel removed 99.3% of the IgG, while using the CB-nanoProA embedded cryogel removed 97.5% of the Alb content. The simultaneous depletion performances of the cryogels for Alb and IgG were characterized using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In this study, the monolithic cryogel-based adsorbents were classified as an alternative matrix to prepare plasma samples for proteomics applications at the preparative scale.