Peptide imprinted receptors for the determination of the small cell lung cancer associated biomarker progastrin releasing peptide.

Peptide imprinted polymers were developed for detection of progastrin releasing peptide (ProGRP); a low abundant blood based biomarker for small cell lung cancer. The polymers targeted the proteotypic nona-peptide sequence NLLGLIEAK and were used for selective enrichment of the proteotypic peptide prior to LCMS based quantification. Peptide imprinted polymers with the best affinity characteristics were first identified from a 96-polymer combinatorial library. The effects of functional monomers, crosslinker, porogen, and template on adsorption capacity and selectivity for NLLGLIEAK were investigated and optimized. Ultimately, a solid phase extraction method was developed for highly selective enrichment of the target peptide from tryptic digests.