Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica y Reactividad de Superficies (LaFReS), Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Gerardo Leyva
Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Jonathan J. Magaña
Departamento de Genética, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación
Ariel Guzmán-Vargas
Instituto Politécnico Nacional - ESIQIE
Carlos Felipe
Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional
Víctor Lara
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa
Enrique Lima
Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica y Reactividad de Superficies (LaFReS), Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Abstract Functionalized copolymers were synthesized and are proposed as hosts of RNA. The copolymers are based on carboxymethyl cellulose and poly-(ethylene glycol)-OH. These copolymers were functionalized with two amino acids, either lysine or histidine, through amide bond formation. The functionalized copolymer was then used to adsorb ribosomal RNA. The RNA loading was based on the nature of the amino acid functionalization of the copolymer. The array of RNA-copolymers was observed to be soft sphere-like, where the density of spheres was a function of the molecular weight of the carboxymethyl cellulose and the nature of the amino acid. Such RNA-copolymer systems are very sensitive to changes in pH.
