Polymerization of Diaspirin Cross-Linked Hemoglobin (DCLHb) with Water-Soluble, Nonimmunogenic Polyamide Cross-Linking Agents

Diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin (DCLHb), a human hemoglobin that is intramolecularly cross-linked between the α chains (lysine 99_α1−lysine 99_α2), was polymerized with a number of water-soluble, nonimmunogenic polyamide cross-linking agents. The degree of polymerization and the oxygen-carrying capacity depended upon the polyamide reagent, the starting concentration of DCLHb, the molar ratio of the polyamide reagent to DCLHb used, the reaction pH, and whether oxy- or deoxy-DCLHb was used in the polymerization reaction.