An overview of protein-polymer particles

Protein-polymer hybrid structures have many actual and potential uses in biomedicine, biotechnology and nanotechnology. The conjugation of synthetic polymers to proteins can impart beneficial properties such as tailored amphiphilicity and new self-assembly and phase-separation behaviour to the resultant hybrids. Significant recent studies have focused on the development of protein-polymer conjugates with varying structural complexity. This review has been compiled with a focus on the area of protein-polymer hybrid particles where control over features such as tertiary structure, topology and interfacial factors was reported thereby generating potentially useful properties at the interface of biological and synthetic chemistry. The syntheses of protein-polymer particles and their potential use in nanomedicine and biotechnology applications have been outlined in this concise review. ? 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.