Polyethylene glycol functional chain compounds can modify the surface of proteins or substances and are used in the study of covalent macromolecule proteins, serving as connecting arms while enhancing the functional properties of proteins.

For example:

Adding polyethylene glycol to the protein modification improves the water solubility of the protein, reduces the immunogenicity of the labeled molecules, and enhances in vivo stability;
Functionalization of solid material surfaces (such as quantum dots, self-assembled monolayers and nanoparticles) with polyethylene glycol spacers can significantly reduce non-specific protein binding.

Researcher Li Xuebing from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a series of polyethylene glycol functional chain products. Take propynyl-triethylene glycol-amino (Cat. No.: 9110656) as an example. This product (as shown in Figure 1) connects two single-chain antibody fragments (scFv) to prevent them from forming dimers or trimers. It reduces the yield and ultimately synthesizes bivalent scFv (di-scFv) with a yield as high as 74% [1][1]

References

1. Arutselvan Natarajan, Wenjun Du, Cheng-Yi Xiong, Gerald L. DeNardo, Sally J. DeNardo, Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague. Chem. Commun. 2007, 7, 695-697.