Conjugates of stimuli‐responsive polymers and biomolecules: Random and site‐specific conjugates of temperature‐sensitive polymers and proteins

Abstract Intelligent polymers exhibit sharp, reversible phase changes in response to small changes in environmental conditions. For example, a small temperature change can cause a sharp precipitation or gelation of a smart polymer solution. Conjugation of these unusual polymers to biomolecules such as enzymes, ligands, lipids, and drugs can lead to many new and exciting applications in medicine and biotechnology. (1–4) This presentation reviews the principles, methodolgies and applications of these “smart” polymer‐biomolecule systems, with special focus on temperature‐sensitive polymer‐protein conjugates.