BONCAT: metabolic labeling, click chemistry, and affinity purification of newly synthesized proteomes

Methods Mol Biol. 2015:1266:199-215. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2272-7_14.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alanine / analogs & derivatives
  • Alanine / chemistry
  • Alanine / metabolism
  • Chromatography, Affinity
  • Click Chemistry
  • Cycloaddition Reaction
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Proteome / biosynthesis*
  • Proteome / chemistry
  • Proteome / isolation & purification
  • Staining and Labeling

Substances

  • Proteome
  • azidohomoalanine
  • Alanine