In Situ Conjugation of Dithiophenol Maleimide Polymers and Oxytocin for Stable and Reversible Polymer–Peptide Conjugates

The in situ one-pot synthesis of peptide–polymer bioconjugates is reported. Conjugation occurs efficiently without the need for purification of dithiophenol maleimide functionalized polymer as a disulfide bridging agent for the therapeutic oxytocin. Conjugation of polymers was demonstrated to be reversible and to significantly improve the solution stability of oxytocin.