Blood
infection can release toxic bacterial lipopolysaccharides
(LPSs) into bloodstream, trigger a series of inflammatory reactions,
and eventually lead to multiple organ dysfunction, irreversible shock,
and even death, which seriously threatens human life and health. Herein,
a functional block copolymer with excellent hemocompatibility is proposed
to enable broad-spectrum clearance of LPSs from whole blood blindly
before pathogen identification, facilitating timely rescue from sepsis.
A dipeptide ligand of histidine–histidine (HH) was designed
as the LPS binding unit, and poly[(trimethylamine N-oxide)-co-(histidine–histidine)], a functional
block copolymer combining the LPS ligand of HH and a zwitterionic
antifouling unit of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO),
was then designed by reversible addition–fragmentation chain
transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The functional polymer achieved effective
clearance of LPSs from solutions and whole blood in a broad-spectrum
manner and had good antifouling and anti-interference properties and
hemocompatibility. The proposed functional dihistidine polymer provides
a novel strategy for achieving broad-spectrum clearance of LPSs, with
potential applications in clinical blood purification.