Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T09736/01
Title:	Responsive Polymers that Change Properties Upon Biochemical Stimuli: Selective Enzyme Entrapment
Principal Investigator:	Ulijn, Professor R
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Materials
Organisation:	University of Manchester, The
Scheme:	First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC
Starts:	01 February 2005	Ends:	31 January 2007	Value (£):	124,938
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Complex fluids & soft solids Drug Formulation & Delivery Materials Characterisation Materials Synthesis & Growth
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
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Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The human body contains about 80,000 different proteins. One important class of these proteins are enzymes. These play important roles in essential physiological functions and also in disease states of living organisms. Hence, it is no surprise that there is a significant biomedical interest in understanding how these enzymes work. In order to study them in detail, it is essential to separate enzymes from their natural biological environment. Because of the large numbers and similarities between individual enzymes this can be a daunting task.In this project, we will investigate the feasibility of using smart polymers for the separation of enzymes from biological fluids. These smart polymers are small gel-like beads that can change shape (from open to collapsed ) upon a specific stimulus. We plan to exploit the enzymes excellent selectivity in recognising certain substrate molecules as a bio-chemical stimulus. To achieve this, the enzyme's substrate molecules are introduced in the smart polymer gel structure. When an enzyme enters the polymer gel in its open form, the specific recognition event between enzyme and gel bound substrate triggers gel collapse resulting in enzyme entrapment. If, on the other hand, the enzyme does not recognise the substrate, no entrapment will occur.The 'smart polymers' that we intend to develop will be able to selectively, reversibly and non-destructively encapsulate enzyme molecules. Polymers that are able to selectively entrap enzymes have not been described before and are expected to find applications in diagnostics and separations.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.man.ac.uk