# Zwitterionic molecularly imprinted polymers for selective capillary microextraction of N1,N12-Diacetylspermine (DiAcSpm) from breast cancer

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method using zwitterionic polymers to selectively detect a cancer biomarker in urine, improving accuracy for breast cancer diagnosis.

## Contribution

A novel zwitterionic molecularly imprinted polymer was developed for selective extraction of DiAcSpm from complex biological samples.

## Key findings

- The MIM column showed a linear response of 10–500 μM and a detection limit of 3.3 μM.
- High recoveries (76.8–91.2%) were achieved when coupled with HPLC-UV analysis.
- The method demonstrated improved selectivity against structural analogs like spermine.

## Abstract

N1,N12-diacetylspermine (DiAcSpm), a promising biomarker for cancer diagnosis, presents significant quantification challenges due to the structural homology within the polyamine family. To address this issue, we engineered a molecularly imprinted monolithic (MIM) column functionalized with biomimetic phosphorylcholine (PC) as functional monomer for the selective recognition of DiAcSpm in human urine. The zwitterionic polymer was synthesized via thermally initiated polymerization, with its morphology and pore architecture characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and brunauer-emmett-teller (BET) analysis. After optimizing capillary microextraction (CME) parameters, the MIM demonstrated a broad linear response (10–500 μM), a low detection limit (3.3 μM, S/N = 3), and high recoveries (76.8–91.2%) when coupled with HPLC-UV analysis. The biomimetic PC-based recognition significantly improved selectivity against key structural analogs, such as spermine, in complex biological matrices. This study underscores the potential of zwitterionic-based MIMs as a robust and efficient platform for the sensitive and selective monitoring of acetylated polyamines in clinical settings.