Abstract: The present application relates to mass spectrometry methods for use in identifying proteins or other biomolecules which are bound irreversibly by test compounds.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards a protein-polymer composition having a protein with a site-specifically incorporated unnatural amino acid initiator and a covalently attached polymer.

Abstract: Disclosed is a bio-based and environmentally friendly elastomer product from renewable agricultural substrates. Specifically, glutamine and arginine residues of gliadin are used as synthons to produce novel elastomeric product from the reaction of the oxirane groups of epoxidized vegetable oils under neat reaction conditions with the primary amide functionalities of glutamine and arginine to give the corresponding amidohyroxy gliadinyl triglycerides.

Abstract: A modified polyacrylonitrile fiber and its preparation process and use are disclosed. An animal hair micro powder is used as a modifier for polyacrylonitrile polymer. The weight percent of a monomer composition is as follows: acrylonitrile monomer 50.0-98.8%, initiator 0.1-0.4%, animal hair micro powder 1.0-50.0%. The preparation process of the modified polyacrylonitrile fiber comprises the following steps: 1. preparing the animal hair micro powder suspension, 2. preparing spinning dope of the modified polyacrylonitrile fiber, 3. preparing the modified polyacrylonitrile fiber. The fiber is suitable for making artificial synthetic hair product such as hairpieces, and resembles well natural human hair.

Abstract: A method of synthesizing a protein-polymer conjugate includes the steps: covalently attaching at least one controlled radical polymerization initiator to a protein to form a protein-initiator composition; and mixing the protein-initiator composition with at least one monomer which undergoes controlled radical polymerization in the presence of the protein-initiator composition under conditions suitable to initiate the controlled radical polymerization.

Abstract: Chemical polymerization procedures initiated by, and proceeding from, a biomolecule, particularly a protein, for the formation of biomolecule-polymer conjugates, particularly protein-polymer conjugates, which have therapeutic uses, are intermediates for forming other materials or are usable in diagnostic sensors are disclosed. Polymerization can be initiated by a protein in the absence of additional initiation agents to form the protein-polymer conjugate. Alternatively, polymerization is initiated in the presence of an additional initiation agent that does not interact with the protein. Amino acids existing in the protein can serve as the sites for initiation of the polymerization or the protein can be modified to contain site(s) for initiation or protein with active sites can be prepared by recombinant methods, chemical ligation, solid-phase synthesis, or other techniques to generate site(s) for initiation.

Abstract: A modified polyacrylonitrile fiber and its preparation process and use are disclosed. A biological protein is used as a modifier of polyacrylonitrile fiber. The weight content of fiber components is as follows: the acrylonitrile monomer 50.0-98.8%, the initiator 0.1-0.4%, the biological protein 1.0-50.0%. The preparation process of the modified polyacrylonitrile fiber comprises the following steps: 1. preparing the biologic protein solution, 2. preparing spinning dope of the modified polyacrylonitrile fiber, 3. preparing the modified polyacrylonitrile fiber. The filament titer of the modified fiber is 30-100 dtex. The fiber is suitable for making synthetic hair product such as hairpieces, and resembles well natural human hair.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of water soluble melanin in solid plastic films of polyvinyl alcohol to be used in conjunction with other plastics to make laminated sheets or lenses. Such laminates will be used as filters to protect against photochemical damage from electromagnetic radiation.

Abstract: A first fiber treatment comprising a functional protein prepared by treating proteins such as collagen with a cross-linking agent and a solvent-base resin; a second one comprising the above functional protein and a water-base resin; a third one comprising a water-soluble organic substance having an average molecular weight of 100 to 20000 and a reactive modifier; a fourth one comprising the above functional protein and a reactive modifier; and products such as fibers and textile goods treated with one of the treatments.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for modifying naturally occuring biocompatible biopolymers of plant and animal origin by subjecting same to ionizing radiation in the presence of a mediating gas, typically acetylene to enable one to selectively enhance and modify one or more of the physiochemical propserties of the starting materials which have a wide range of uses in medicine, food technology and other industrial applications. Notwithstanding the modifications, the biocompatibility of the biopolymer remains unchanged and no new or additional functional groups are introduced into the starting biopolymer.

Abstract: A method of preparing a polymer-protein composite based upon placing a protein in solution in an organic phase via the ion-pairing of the protein with a surfactant. The polymer-protein composites are useful, for example, as highly active and stable catalysts, in for example, paints and coatings, as well as in medical application.

Abstract: Affinity macroligands (AML) comprising a reversibly water soluble poly-N-alkylacrylamide linked to a ligand, and their use in the separation of a target substance from a mixture comprising the target substance and other materials are disclosed. Preferred AMLs have number average molar masses of less than 7,000 g/mol (chain length n typically about 25), mass distributions of less than 1.2 and narrow precipitation-solubility temperature (NPST) interval, typically in the range of 1-2° C.

Abstract: An impoved barrier or drug delivery system which is highly adherent to the surface to which it is applied is disclosed, along with methods for making the barrier. In the preferred embodiment, tissue is stained with a photoinitiator, then the polymer solution or gel having added thereto a defined amount of the same or a different photoinitiator is applied to the tissue. On exposure to light, the resulting system polymerizes at the surface, giving excellent adherence, and also forms a gel in the rest of the applied volume. Thus a gel barrier of arbitrary thickness can be applied to a surface while maintaining high adherence at the interface. This process is referred to herein as "priming". the polymerizable barrier materials are highly useful for sealing tissue surfaces and junctions against leaks of fluids. In another embodiment, "priming" can be used to reliably adhere preformed barriers to tissue or other surfaces, or to adhere tissue surfaces to each other.

Abstract: A chiral (R) stereospecific polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) in aqueous latex form having virgin disperse phase particles of very low or undetectable crystallinity is useful in making a water-sensitive structure water-resistant. It may be used as a mixture with a latex of a synthetic polymer. Processes for making the PHA latex are disclosed.

Abstract: A method of preparing a polymer-protein composite including polymerizing a monomer in the presence of a protein dissolved in an organic phase via the ion-pairing of the protein with a surfactant. The polymer-protein composites are useful, for example, as highly active and stable catalysts, in for example, paints and coatings, as well as in medical application.

Abstract: An improved barrier or drug delivery system which is highly adherent to the surface to which it is applied is disclosed, along with methods for making the barrier. The barrier can be prepared by staining tissue with a photoinitiator, applying a solution containing a polymerizable barrier material solution and a photoinitiator to the tissue, and polymerizing the polymer solution on exposure to light. The resulting polymer adheres strongly to the tissue surface, and also forms a gel in the rest of the applied volume. The polymerizable barrier materials are highly useful for sealing tissue surfaces and junctions against leaks of fluids. The method can be used to adhere preformed barriers to tissue or other surfaces, or to adhere tissue surfaces to each other. Tissue surfaces can be adhered to each other to repair wounds. In addition to photochemical initiators, non-photochemical initiators and combinations of chemical initiators and photochemical initiators can be used.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a new form of biocompatible materials (e.g., lipids, polycations, polysaccharides) which are capable of undergoing free radical polymerization, e.g., by using certain sources of light; methods of modifying certain synthetic and naturally occurring biocompatible materials to make polymerizable microcapsules containing biological material coated with said polymerizable materials, composites of said polymerizable materials, methods of making microcapsules and encapsulating biological materials therein, and apparatus for making microcapsules containing biological cells (particularly islets of Langerhans) coated with polymerizable alginate or with a composite thereof (e.g., alginate and PEG). The present invention also relates to drug delivery systems relating to the foregoing, as well as bioadhesives and wound dressings made utilizing the foregoing technology.

Abstract: Water-soluble or water-dispersible graft polymers which are obtainable by free-radical-initiated polymerization of(A) a monomer or monomer mixture comprising(a) from 20 to 100% by weight of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid or a mixture thereof or alkali metal, alkaline earth metal or ammonium salts thereof,(b) from 0 to 80% by weight of other monoethylenically unsaturated monomers which can be copolymerized with the monomers (a), and(c) from 0 to 5% by weight of monomers containing at least 2 ethylenically unsaturated, non-conjugated double bonds in the molecule,in the presence of proteins (B)in an A:B weight ratio of from (95 to 10):(5 to 90), are used as tanning agents for self-tanning, pretanning and assist tanning of pelts and skin pelts and for the retanning of leather and skin.

Abstract: A polymer composition comprising a crystallisable polymer stabilised in an amorphous or incompletely crystalline state by forming particles at least partly coated with a surfactant or phospholipid and to processes for preparing a such a polymer composition.

Abstract: A bead composition is disclosed herein which comprises a core of a polyacrylonitrile homopolymer or copolymer and a surface of pendant N-haloamide groups. Also disclosed is a process for the production of said composition.

Abstract: A biocompatible material which is the product of graft-copolymerization of a water-soluble vinyl and/or an acrylate monomer with a sorption complex of polysilicic acid and collagen that has been rid of pigments, glycoproteins and proteoglycans, or a product obtained by virtue of chemical destruction, with the aid of hydrofluoric acid, of the afore-mentioned product of graft-copolymerization, containing up to 25 mass percent of polysilicic acid (in terms of SiO.sub.2), up to 12 mass percent of protein, and maximum 1 10.sup.-6 mole/g of an anion of hydrofluoric and hydrofluoric acids, methods of making the same and products produced thereby.

Abstract: A composition is disclosed herein which comprises a core of a polyacrylonitrile homopolymer or copolymer and a surface of N-haloamides. Also disclosed is a process for the production of said composition.

Abstract: A surface-modified fibrillated fiber composition is disclosed herein which comprises polyacrylonitrile homopolymer or copolymer and a surface of pendant N-haloamide groups. Also disclosed is a process for the production of said composition.

Abstract: Collagen-based compositions as adhesives and sealants for medical use and preparation thereof are described. Prior to polymerization, soluble or partially fibrillar collagen monomers in solution are chemically modified with an acylating agent, sulfonating agent or a combination of the foregoing. The collagen compositions prepared accordingly can be used as medical adhesives for bonding soft tissues or be made in to a sealant film for a variety of medical uses such as wound closures and tendon wraps for preventing adhesion formation following surgery.

Abstract: The invention relates to a number of synthetic polypeptides which correspond to a part of the sequences of the Shiga B peptide chain. More specifically, the invention relates to polypeptides corresponding to the residues 5 to 18, 7 to 26, 13 to 26, and 19 to 29 of said B chain. The invention further relates to the conjugates of each of these with a suitable carrier and to polymers of each or these obtained by polymerization with a suitable polymerization agent: these can be used as effective vaccines which afford protection against Shiga toxin. Anti-peptide anti-sera are effective in neutralizing to a large extent the biological activity of Shiga toxin.

Abstract: A hydrophilic contact lens is disclsoed incorporating melanin that protects the eye from harmful radiation and superoxide.

Abstract: A hydrophilic contact lens is disclosed incorporating melanin that protects the eye from harmful radiation and superoxide.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a medium incorporating melanin for radiation protection.

Abstract: A graft copolymer is made by grafting, by a free radical reaction mechanism in aqueous solution, water soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomeric material on to a water soluble substrate having hydroxyl groups, and the free radicals are formed on the substrate using an oxidizing metal capable of being reduced by the substrate to a lower valency state (for instance cerium) and persulphate or other peroxy compound capable of oxidizing the metal back to a higher valency state. The process is preferably conducted as a reverse phase polymerization process and the invention includes also a novel reverse phase emulsion comprising a dispersion of reverse phase polymer particles of a graft copolymer of carboxymethyl cellulose, dextran or starch with acrylamide and acrylic acid and/or AMPS.

Abstract: Melanin is used as the absorbing pigment for radiation protective eyeware. Thus, a melanin-plastic copolymer was formed by adding a catalyst (benzoyl peroxide) to the liquid monomer, diethylene glycol bis allyl carbonate (CR-39), which contained dissolved catechol (a melanin precursor); the solution was heated for one day at 50 degrees celsius and an additional two days at 65 degrees celsius and yielded an optically transparent solid plastic with amber color and with an optical absorption spectrum very close to that associated with melanin.

Abstract: An improved process of cast coating and the coating composition used therein produces a paper coating which has exceptional brightness, gloss, smoothness, flexibility, resistance to drum adhesions and pick resistance. The paper coating is especially effective in cast coating where extremely high smoothness and gloss is essential. The paper coating composition utilizes soy protein binder which has been modified by copolymerization to add a synthetic component to modify the properties of the soy protein.

Abstract: Immunoassay methods and compositions are disclosed for the detection of analytes in fluid samples. The disclosure provides conjugates of analytes or reactants with polymerizable organic monomers. Specific binding reactions between reactants are detected by means of resporter/reactant conjugates. Free and specifically-bound reporter/reactant conjugates are separated by a polymerization reaction which renders the polymerized monomers insolule.

Abstract: Methods and compounds are disclosed for determining the presence, amount of, or association between substances of interest in samples suspected of containing same. The methods are based on the polymerization-induced separation of specifically-bound, reporter-labeled recognition reactants from free, reporter-labeled recognition reactants. The methods described are applicable to any substance for which suitable recognition reactants exist or can be made and are not limited by considerations such as chemical composition or molecular size.

Abstract: Immunoassay methods and compositions are disclosed for the detection of one or more analytes in fluid samples. The disclosure provides conjugates of analytes or reactants with polymerizable organic monomers. Specific binding reactions between reactants are detected by means of reporter/reactant conjugates. Free and specifically-bound reporter/reactant conjugates are separated by a polymerization reaction which renders the polymerized monomers insoluble.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to optical lens systems for radiation protection of the human eye utilizing melanin as an absorbing pigment.

Abstract: A modified vegetable protein adhesive binder and a process for producing the same is disclosed wherein an alkaline protein dispersion is formed of a vegetable protein material and said dispersion is treated with a cationic monomer, preferably a cationic monomer selected from the group consisting of cationic epoxide monomers and cationic acrylate monomers, in an amount sufficient to modify the protein material. The modified vegetable protein adhesive binder has a greater affinity for pigments in a paper coating composition. This greater pigment affinity results in an improvement in the porosity of the final coating, thereby improving ink receptivity and printability on the coating surface.

Abstract: A modified vegetable protein adhesive binder and a process for producing the same is disclosed wherein an alkaline protein dispersion is treated with hydroxy alkyl acrylate in an amount sufficient to modify the protein material. The modified vegetable protein adhesive binder provides greater binder strength when employed in paper coating compositions containing pigment and other materials such as latex. The modified binder also results in coatings with an improved degree of water retention.

Abstract: Microspheres of acrolein homopolymers and copolymer with hydrophillic comonomers such as methacrylic acid and/or hydroxyethylmethacrylate are prepared by cobalt gamma irradiation of dilute aqueous solutions of the monomers in presence of suspending agents, especially alkyl sulfates such as sodium dodecyl sulfate. Amine or hydroxyl modification is achieved by forming adducts with diamines or alkanol amines. Carboxyl modification is effected by oxidation with peroxides. Pharmaceuticals or other aldehyde reactive materials can be coupled to the microspheres. The microspheres directly form antibody adducts without agglomeration.

Abstract: A conjugated diene such as butadiene-1,3 and a vinyl aryl monomer such as styrene are graft or over copolymerized on a dissolved or finely divided anionic fully caustic treated soy protein in aqueous alkaline media using minor effective amounts of an oil soluble azo catalyst, a chelating agent and a chain transfer agent to form a latex which can be used in paper coating compositions.

Abstract: The invention describes a protein derivative which has a molecular weight of 500 to 50,000 and has been chemically modified by grafting onto the protein chain radicals which absorb ultraviolet radiation. Also described are a process for the preparation of this protein derivative and compositions, containing this derivative as the active substance, for treating and protecting the skin and hair against photochemical degradation.