Protein-polymer conjugates, typically consisting of one or more polymers covalently attached to a protein, are an increasingly common component in biotechnology. Polymers can increase circulation time, alter immune responses, and influence the self-assembly of proteins to which they are attached. To understand and take full advantage of the benefits that protein-polymer conjugates provide, there is a strong need for structural characterization of both the conjugates and their self-assembled structures. Whereas X-ray crystallography is suitable for determining protein structure, protein-polymer conjugates do not generally crystallize, requiring the use of alternative techniques. Small-angle scattering, with neutrons in particular, is one such technique. In this paper, we review recent work in the area of protein-polymer conjugates and highlight the important role that structure plays. We then highlight shape dependent and independent approaches for structural characterization of protein-polymer conjugates, future directions in small-angle scattering interpretation, and conclude by introducing a new model that we suggest may be useful in the future to acquire more detailed structural properties.

蛋白质-聚合物共轭物通常由一种或多种与蛋白质共价结合的聚合物组成，是生物技术中越来越常见的组件。聚合物可以增加循环时间，改变免疫反应，并影响与其连接的蛋白质的自组装。为了理解并充分利用蛋白质-聚合物结合物所提供的益处，强烈需要结合物及其自组装结构的结构表征。X射线晶体学适用于确定蛋白质结构，而蛋白质-聚合物共轭物通常不会结晶，因此需要使用其他技术。小角散射，尤其是中子散射，就是这样一种技术。在本文中，我们回顾了蛋白质-聚合物缀合物领域的最新工作，并强调了结构所起的重要作用。然后，我们着重介绍蛋白质-聚合物共轭物的结构表征的形状依赖性和独立性方法，小角度散射解释的未来方向，并通过引入新模型得出结论，我们认为该模型可能对将来获得更详细的结构特性有用。