A General Method For Selective Labeling Of Proteins On Their N-Termini With Synthetic Peptides

Direct and selective labeling of α-amines or α-carboxylates of the N-terminal amino acid in proteins is a powerful approach for profiling proteins in complex mixtures. Approximately 80% of mammalian proteins are N-terminally acetylated. Thus, N-terminal labeling provides greater signal over background than does C-terminal labeling. However, such labeling must still be extremely selective for α-amines over lysine ε-amines, which are approximately 25 times more abundant in an average protein. Kristin Agopian kristin.agopian@ucsf.edu 415-340-2619