A Genetic Code Expansion‐Derived Molecular Beacon for the Detection of Intracellular Amyloid‐β Peptide Generation
- Journal:
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1002/anie.202010703
- Affiliations:
- 3
- Authors:
- 5
Research Highlight
Lighting up proteolytic proteoforms
© JUAN GAERTNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images
A new strategy has been developed for labelling polypeptides, which play important roles in biological processes and diseases.
Polypeptides generated by a process known as proteolytic processing regulate a diverse range of biological processes by acting as neurotransmitters and hormones. Some are also active in diseases. For example, the amyloid precursor protein plays a key role in Alzheimer’s disease. But often their small size and intricate site-specific processing makes it challenging to label them with genetic tags so that they can be imaged.
Now, a team led by researchers at the Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology in Thailand has demonstrated a new labelling strategy that allows proteolytic proteoforms to be visualized. Their approach involves the site-specific placement of a probe using genetic code expansion. Proteolytic processing then turns on fluorescence.
The team demonstrated this labelling strategy by using it to detect amyloid-beta peptides. The researchers are confident that it could be applied to neuropeptides and cytokines that cannot be imaged using conventional techniques.
References
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition 60, 3934–3939 (2021). doi: 10.1002/anie.202010703
Institutions | Authors | Share |
---|---|---|
Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Thailand | 0.60 | |
Yale University, United States of America (USA) | 0.20 | |
Chulalongkorn University (CU), Thailand | 0.20 |