Description
General Description
Maleimide-PEG-NHS is a versatile heterobifunctional PEG linker designed for orthogonal bioconjugation. The terminal NHS ester reacts efficiently with primary amines on proteins, peptides, antibodies, enzymes, nanoparticles, and other biomolecules under mild aqueous conditions, forming stable amide linkages.
The terminal maleimide group selectively reacts with sulfhydryl (thiol) groups on cysteine-containing biomolecules under physiological conditions to form stable thioether bonds. The orthogonal reactivity of NHS ester and maleimide enables sequential conjugation strategies for the preparation of site-specific protein conjugates, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), PEGylated biomolecules, and multifunctional nanomaterials.
The hydrophilic PEG spacer improves water solubility, molecular flexibility, and biocompatibility while reducing steric hindrance and minimizing nonspecific protein adsorption. Maleimide-PEG-NHS is extensively used in protein PEGylation, antibody conjugation, nanoparticle functionalization, biosensor fabrication, hydrogel preparation, molecular imaging, and targeted drug delivery.
Applications
- Protein conjugation
- Antibody conjugation
- Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
- Thiol-specific bioconjugation
- PEGylation
- Hydrogel synthesis
- Nanoparticle functionalization
- Surface modification
- Drug delivery systems
- Biomaterials research
Features and Benefits
- Reactive maleimide group
- Reactive NHS ester
- Orthogonal conjugation chemistry
- Highly selective thiol conjugation
- Efficient amine-specific coupling
- Excellent water solubility
- Excellent biocompatibility
- Low nonspecific protein adsorption
- Available in multiple PEG molecular weights
