Abstract: We prepared a variety of stimuli-responsive gels that undergo volume changes in response to a target biomolecule, by using biomolecular complexes as cross-linking points and by biomolecular imprinting using biomolecules as ligands. This paper focuses on the effect of network structures of biomolecule-responsive gels on their molecule-responsive behavior. A semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPN) gel having antigen-antibody bindings as cross-linking points showed reversibly antigen-responsive swelling-shrinking changes but the gel without a semi-IPN structure did not. A tumor-marker-responsive gel with a semi-IPN structure shrank more rapidly in a buffer solution containing a target tumor marker than that without a semi-IPN structure. Furthermore, a DNA-crosslinked gel with a higher DNA content showed more remarkably DNA-responsive swelling than that with a low DNA content This paper describes structural design of biomolecule-responsive gels to improve their responsive behavior
Author keywords: Biomolecule, gel, ligand, molecular imprinting, molecular recognition, stimuli-responsive gel

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