Antibody-Free Biomarker Determination: Exploring Molecularly
Imprinted Polymers for Pro-Gastrin Releasing Peptide
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Abstract
Biomarker mass spectrometry assays
are in high demand, and analysis
of pro-gastrin releasing peptide (ProGRP) as a small cell lung cancer
marker has been recently investigated by mass spectrometry after immunoextraction.
In this article, we introduce an assay based on molecularly imprinted
polymers (MIPs) targeting the proteotypic peptide of ProGRP as a possible
alternative to current immuno-based assay. The MIPs were prepared
by surface-initiated reversible addition–fragmentation chain
transfer polymerization and were introduced as sorbents for the cleanup
and enrichment of a ProGRP signature peptide from tryptically treated
serum samples. The use of an appropriate solid-phase extraction protocol
allowed specific extraction of the target peptide while depleting
other peptides that arose from the sample digestion, hence resulting
in reduced background. The selective extraction of a ProGRP signature
peptide, after digestion of serum samples, translates into a time-
and cost-effective method suited for bottom-up analysis wherever targeted
peptide extraction from complex matrices is required