Our newest publication on “Cholesterol Modification of (Bio)Polymers Using UV-Vis Traceable Chemistry in Aqueous Solutions” has been published in Macromolecular Bioscience.
abstract
Cholesterol modification of synthetic and biological polymers is achieved using of thiocholesterol (TC) and thiol-disulfide exchange. TC is reacted with Ellman’s reagent to produce a mixed disulfide (TC-ER) which is activated towards thiol-disulfide exchange. TC-ER is used to obtain an inclusion complex with methyl-β-cyclodextrin, which is then employed to achieve cholesterol functionalization of a model peptide, synthetic polymers, and physical hydrogels based on poly(vinyl alcohol). It is anticipated that the established techniques will significantly broaden the use of cholesterol in bio- and nanotechnology and specifically biomedicine.