Fabrication of Cholesterol-Imprinted Microspheres-Based Metal-Chelating Monomer for Cholesterol Recognition from Serum

Cholesterol is an essential lipid molecule associated with various physiological and pathological processes in the human body. Elevated cholesterol levels are correlated with several diseases, such as atherosclerosis, making cholesterol a critical biomarker for health monitoring. Molecular imprinting technology was selected to fabricate cholesterol imprinted microsphere (CHOL-IP). This approach creates tailor-made binding sites within polymer matrices for capturing cholesterol. However, the limited functional group in steroid derivative pose a challenge for the imprinting strategy. In this study, we successfully synthesized CHOL-IP using a metal chelating monomer, N,N '-vinylbenzyl iminodiacetic acid (VBIDA), in conjunction with copper (II) ions. The metal coordination approach facilitated strong binding forces, resulting in improved stability and specificity of the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). The synthesized CHOL-IP was tested with pooled human serum samples containing cholesterol, HDL, and LDL. The CHOL-IP exhibited significantly higher binding efficiency towards these compounds compared to the control polymer (CP). The application of a metal-chelating functional monomer in the synthesized CHOL-IP revealed the potential for enhancing its strong binding property toward cholesterol. This suggests that CHOL-IP could be employed in the development of a cholesterol-imprinted biosensor, providing an alternative tool for cholesterol analysis in medical detection applications.