Designing multivalent probes for tunable superselective targeting.

ABSTRACT: Specific targeting is common in biology and is a key challenge in nanomedicine. It was recently demonstrated that multivalent probes can selectively target surfaces with a defined density of surface binding sites. Here we show, using a combination of experiments and simulations on multivalent polymers, that such "superselective" binding can be tuned through the design of the multivalent probe, to target a desired density of binding sites. We develop an analytical model that provides simple yet quantitative predictions to tune the polymer's superselective binding properties by its molecular characteristics such as size, valency, and affinity. This work opens up a route toward the rational design of multivalent probes with defined superselective targeting properties for practical application

SUBMITTER: Dubacheva GV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4426472 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature