Polymers containing enzymatically degradable bonds V. Hydrophilic polymers degradable by papain

Copolymers of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide were prepared, in which synthetic polymer chains are joined by crosslinks containing oligopeptidic sequences degradable with papain, with the general structure P-(Gly)n-X-Y-NH-(CH2)6-NH-Y-X-(Gly)n-P (P is the polymer chain, n = 1,2; X...Phe, Val, Gly; Y...Lys, Gly, Tyr, Ala, Phe). The relationship between the structure of these polymeric substrates and their degradability with papain was investigated viscometrically. It was shown that -Phe-Lys- was the most suitable -X-Y- sequence. Extension of the oligopeptidic sequence by one amino acid residue causes a pronounced rise in the rate of cleavage of the polymeric substrates.