Structural control of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-graft-polyamine copolymers for differential retention of rat...

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-graft-polyamine copolymers (HA copolymers) of varying composition and chain length of the polyamine graft were prepared by radical copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with a given quantity of polyamine macromonomer having a controlled molecular weight, and their interaction with lymphocyte subpopulations (B and T cells) was estimated using a column method. From these results, it was revealed that the most suitable molecular structure of HA copolymers for separating lymphocyte subpopulations is that of an HA copolymer with 13 wt% of polyamine graft with a chain length 3000-6600 in molecular weight. It is concluded that the retention process of lymphocytes on the HA graft copolymers is driven primarily by ionic interactions between the protonated amino groups and the cells. However, the mode of the polyamine microdomain structure, that is the distribution of protonated amino groups, and the conformation of the polyamine chains, which varies with the chain length of the HA copolymer, are also important factors in determining differential lymphocyte retention.