Zg. Zhao et al., Site-specific modification of a single-chain antibody using a novel glyoxylyl-based labeling reagent, BIOCONJ CHE, 10(3), 1999, pp. 424-430
A novel, highly specific protein modification approach is described. By usi
ng conventional molecular cloning techniques, a protein can be constructed
and expressed such that the N-terminal residue is replaced by cysteine. Its
1,2-aminothiol structure reacts very specifically with a glyoxylyl group a
t pH 7 or below, forming a relatively stable thiazolidine bridge. Therefore
, a glyoxylyl-based labeling agent (e.g., radioactive tags, fluorescent pro
bes, biotin) can be used to specifically modify a protein at its N-terminus
. To highlight this novel approach, a recombinant anti-insulin single chain
antibody (scFv) was specifically biotinylated at its N-terminus even in th
e presence of other proteins in the total cell lysate. The glyoxylyl-biotin
ylated scFv retained binding activity similar to unmodified scFv.