FUNCTIONAL POLYMERIC MICROSPHERES SYNTHESIZED BY RADIATION POLYMERIZATION

New functional microspheres consisting of diethylene glycol dimethacrylate (2G) and a methacryloyl monomer containing four amino acids, L-asparagynyl-L-alanyl-L-asparagynyl-L-proline methyl ester (MA-NANPOMe) were synthesized by radiation induced co-polymerization. These four amino acids were previously identified as a part of the immunodominant region of the circumsporozoite (CS) protein of Plasmodium falciparum. The use of this synthetic peptide as an antigen in immunoassay for malaria is promising: the microspheres exposed to the sera of malaria patients showed marked fluorescence, while the spheres contacted with sera of healthy donors showed no fluorescence.