Cell-imprinted polymers

Another potential application of the cell-imprinted polymers is the manufacture of tailor-made substrata for the cultivation of animal cells. These can be prepared either in the form of beads or planar surfaces, analogous perhaps to Petri dishes but containing discrete cell nests , separated by a layer of non-adhesive polymer to prevent contact between the cells (Fig. 11.6). 

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are of growing interest for their potential biotechnological applications. Recently, the templating processes with living yeast cells were reported107 for the preparation of ordered and... 

The selectivity and sensitivity of biosensors are governed by the biocatalyst. Commonly used biocatalysts in biosensors are enzymes [10, 11], antibodies [12, 13], whole cells [14], and artificial receptors such as molecularly imprinted polymers [15, 16],... 

Nanobarcodes Nanoemulsions Nanofibers Nanoparticles Nanoshells Carbon nanotubes Quantum dots Artificial binding sites Artificial antibodies Artificial enzymes Artificial receptors Molecularly imprinted polymers Cell simulations and cell diagnostics Cell chips Cell stimulators... 

Another approach to electrochemical transduction by chemical recognition is the incorporation of the imprinted polymer as the active ingredient in a membrane of an ISE. ISEs are devices which, when incorporated in an electrochemical cell with an appropriate reference electrode, produce a potential that varies predictably with the concentration of a certain ion in solution. If the response of the electrode follows theory, the response is Nernstian and is given by the Nernst equation ... 

ISEs are selective but not exclusive, so they may respond to other chemically similar ions and careful control of the cell contents is usually required. MIPs provide a means for selectivity enhancement and it is likely that electrodes made using imprinted polymers may more closely approach the exclusivity desired in such a device. A calibration plot for a typical imprinted polymer ISE is given in Fig. 19.2. 

Fig. 19.2. The potential response of an imprinted polymer ISE for Pb used in a cell with an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. The slope is 27.6 mV/decade and the line fitted to the data gives a correlation constant, r = 0.9996.

Hayden, O. Dicker , F.L. Selective microorganism detection with cell surface imprinted polymers. Adv. Mat. 2001,13 (19), 148(U1483. 

---