Molecular imprinting technique (MIT) involves the synthesis of polymer in the presence of a template to produce complementary binding sites in terms of its size, shape, and functional group orientation. Such kind of polymer possesses specific recognition ability towards its template molecule. Despite the rapid development of MIT over the years, the majority of the template molecules that have been studied are small molecules, while molecular imprinting of proteins remains a significant yet challenging task due to their large size, structural flexibility and complex conformation. In this review, we summarize the research findings over the past five years, and discuss the characteristics of the technique, the most recent progress and the perspective in the field of molecular imprinting of proteins.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of bleeding cupping with different acupoints and frequencies in treating acne vulgaris.MethodSixty-four patients were divided by using stratified randomization method into Dazhui (GV14) group of 32 cases (16 cases in the subgroup of once every week, and the other 16 cases in the subgroup of twice every week) and Geshu(BL17) group of 32 cases (16 cases in the subgroup of once every week, and the rest 16 cases in the subgroup of twice every week). Dazhui group received bleeding cupping once every week or twice every week, while Geshu group also received bleeding cuppingonce every week or twice every week. The acne symptoms scores and total score were observed before and after intervention to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy.ResultThe symptoms scores including oily condition, skin lesion nature, counts, color, and swelling pain were decreased after intervention in the two groups (P<0.01). The improvement of oily condition in Geshugroup was more significant than that in Dazhuigroup (P<0.05). The symptoms scores including oily condition, skin lesion nature, counts, color, and swelling pain were decreased after intervention in all the subgroups of different frequencies (P<0.01). The improvements of skin lesion nature and swelling pain were more significant in the subgroups of twice a week than that in the subgroups of once a week (P<0.05).ConclusionBleeding cupping with different acupoints and frequencies all can produce satisfactory efficacies; bleeding cupping at Geshucan produce a more significant efficacy than that at Dazhui;treatment at a frequency of twice a week can produce a more significant effect than once a week in improving skin lesion nature and swelling pain.

This paper reports investigations into the preparation and characterization of surface molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (SMINs) designed to adhere to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Imprinted nanoparticles were prepared by the inverse microemulsion polymerization method. A fraction of Lpp20, an outer membrane protein of H. pylori known as NQA, was chosen as template and modified with myristic acid to facilitate its localization on the surface of the nanoparticles. The interaction between these SMINs with the template NQA were evaluated using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), change in zeta potential and fluorescence polarization (FP). The results were highly consistent in demonstrating a preferential recognition of the template NQA for SMINs compared with the control nanoparticles. In vitro experiments also indicate that such SMINs are able to adhere to H. pylori and may be useful for H. pylori eradication.