Conjugation of Amine-Functionalized Polyesters With Dimethylcasein Using Microbial Transglutaminase

Protein-polymer conjugates have been used as therapeutics because they exhibit frequently higher stability, prolonged in vivo half-life, and lower immunogenicity compared with native proteins. The first part of this report describes the enzymatic synthesis of poly(glycerol adipate) (PGA(M)) by transesterification between glycerol and dimethyl adipate using lipase B from Candida antarctica. PGA(M) is a hydrophilic, biodegradable but water insoluble polyester. By acylation, PGA(M) is modified with 6-(Fmoc-amino)hexanoic acid and with hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) side chains (mPEG12) rendering the polymer highly water soluble. This is followed by the removal of protecting groups, fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl, to generate polyester with primary amine groups, namely PGA(M)-g-NH₂-g-mPEG12. ¹H NMR spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography have been used to determine the chemical structure and polydispersity index of PGA(M) before and after modification. In the second part, we discuss the microbial transglutaminase-mediated conjugation of the model protein dimethylcasein with PGA(M)-g-NH₂-g-mPEG12 under mild reaction conditions. SDS-PAGE proves the protein-polyester conjugation.