Site-Specific Protein Labeling

Peter Landgraf, Elmer R Antileo, Erin M Schuman, Daniela C Dieterich, Elmer R. Antileo, Erin M. Schuman, Daniela C. Dieterich, Landgraf, Peter, Antileo, Elmer R., Schuman, Erin M., Dieterich, Daniela C.

Metabolic labeling of proteins using classical radioisotope-labeled amino acids has enabled the analysis and function of protein synthesis for many biological processes but cannot be combined with modern high-throughput mass spectrometry analysis. This chapter describes the unbiased identification of a whole de novo synthesized proteome of cultured cells or of a translationally active subcellular fraction of the mammalian brain. This technique relies on the introduction of a small bioorthogonal reactive group by metabolic labeling accomplished by replacing the amino acid methionine by the azide-bearing methionine surrogate azidohomoalanine (AHA) or the amino acid homopropargylglycine (HPG). Subsequently an alkyne- or azide-bearing affinity tag is covalently attached to the group by "click chemistry"-a copper(I)-catalyzed [3+2] azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Affinity tag-labeled proteins can be analyzed in candidate-based approaches by conventional biochemical methods or with high-throughput mass spectrometry.