Protein conjugation of thermoresponsive amine-reactive polymers prepared by RAFT

Reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) of N-isopropylacrylamide with a chain transfer agent containing an activated-ester moiety was employed to prepare well-defined temperature-responsive polymers for conjugation to amine-containing proteins. Bioconjugation efficiency of the polymers with lysozyme was investigated as a function of stoichiometry, polymer molecular weight, and reaction pH. The resulting polymer–protein conjugates retained the temperature-responsive nature of the original polymers.