Avidin derivatives

Table 1 Useful strept(avidin) derivatives. Streptavidin derivatives are reviewed in [27] and [28], and avidin derivatives are reviewed in [30], Besides the review articles, some specific references are listed. Note that this list does not include chimeric protein complexes formed from strept(avidin) binding of biotinylated protein...

Fig. 10.3-16(b) [69]. After amide bond formation, these proteins can be further modified using commercially available avidin derivatives, including those bearing fluorescent semiconducting nanocrystals [70], As the recognition sequence appears with little or no frequency in the proteome of most cells, virtually absolute selectivity can be obtained. 

Isotope Dilution Assay. An isotope dilution assay for biotin, based on the high affinity of avidin for the ureido group of biotin, compares the binding of radioactive biotin and nonradio active biotin with avidin. This method is sensitive to a level of 1—10 ng biotin (82—84), and the radiotracers typically used are p C]biotin (83), [3H]biotin (84,85) or an I-labeled biotin derivative (86). A variation of this approach uses I-labeled avidin (87) for the assay. 

Patterning of enzyme monolayers on a solid surface was carried out by photoactivation of immobilized monolayer of caged -biotin derivatives in selected areas. Specific oriented binding of enzyme-avidin conjugates could be readily made to the photoactivated zones [42]. Oriented immobilization of G-protein-coupled receptors on a solid surface was also made possible on a biotinylated surface by first immobilizing streptavidin, followed by the immobilization of biotinylated G-protein-coupled receptor [43]. 

NHS-iminobiotin can be used to label amine-containing molecules with an iminobiotin tag, providing reversible-binding potential with avidin or streptavidin. The NHS ester reacts with proteins and other amine-containing molecules to create stable amide bond derivatives (Figure 11.6). An iminobiotinylated molecule then can be used to target and purify other... 

Biotinylated oligosaccharides are convenient probes of carbohydrate interactions, because the biotin label can be captured or detected using an avidin or streptavidin derivative. For instance, immobilized streptavidin can be used to purify glycoconjugates that have been labeled... 

Biotinylated liposomes usually are created by modification of PE components with an amine-reactive biotin derivative, for example NHS-LC-Biotin (Chapter 11, Section 1). The NHS ester reacts with the primary amine of PE residues, forming an amide bond linkage (Figure 22.19). A better choice of biotinylation agent may be to use the NHS-PEG -biotin compounds (Chapter 18), because the hydrophilic PEG spacer provides better accessibility in the aqueous environment than a hydrophobic biotin spacer. Since the modification occurs at the hydrophilic end of the phospholipid molecule, after vesicle formation the biotin component protrudes out from the liposomal surface. In this configuration, the surface-immobilized biotins are able to bind (strept)avidin molecules present in the outer aqueous medium. 

To purify the SATA-modified (strept)avidin use gel filtration on a desalting column or dialyze against 0.1M sodium phosphate, 0.15M NaCl, pH 7.2, containing lOmM EDTA. At this point, the derivative is stable and may be stored under conditions which favor long-term (strept)avidin activity. 

Although FITC and other reactive fluorescein derivatives still are widely used to label (strept)avidin and other proteins, better fluorescence yield and stability will be obtained if one of the newer hydrophilic fluorescein dyes is used. See Chapter 9, Section 1, for additional details on labeling proteins with fluorescein. 

The bilin content of these fluorescent proteins ranges from a low of 4 prosthetic groups in C-phycocyanin to the 34 groups of B- and R-phycoerythrin. Phycoerythrin derivatives, therefore, can be used to create the most intensely fluorescent probes possible using these proteins. (Strept)avidin-phycoerythrin conjugates, for example, have been used to detect as little as 100 biotinylated antibodies bound to receptor proteins per cell (Zola et al., 1990). 

Conjugates of (strept)avidin with these fluorescent probes may be prepared by activation of the phycobiliprotein with N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate (SPDP) to create a sulf-hydryl-reactive derivative, followed by modification of (strept)avidin with 2-iminothiolane or SATA (Chapter 1, Section 4.1) to create the free sulfhydryl groups necessary for conjugation. The protocol for SATA modification of (strept)avidin can be found in Section 3.1, this chapter. The procedure for SPDP activation of phycobiliproteins can be found in Chapter 9, Section 7. Reacting the SPDP-activated phycobiliprotein with thiol-labeled (strept)avidin at a molar ratio of 2 1 will result in highly fluorescent biotin binding probes. 

Other fluorescent probes also may be used to label (strept)avidin molecules for detection of biotinylated targeting molecules. Chapter 9 reviews many additional fluorescent labels, such as quantum dots, lanthanide chelates, and cyanine dye derivatives, all of which may be used in similar protocols to create detection conjugates for (strept)avidin-biotin-based assays. 

Figure 23.9 Reaction of adipic acid dihydrazide with (strept)avidin produces a hydrazide derivative that is highly reactive toward periodate-oxidized polysaccharides.

Figure 27.1 Three common nucleoside triphosphate derivatives that can be incorporated into oligonucleotides by enzymatic means. The first two are biotin derivatives of pyrimidine and purine bases, respectively, that can be added to an existing DNA strand using either polymerase or terminal transferase enzymes. Modification of DNA with these nucleosides results in a probe detectable with labeled avidin or streptavidin conjugates. The third nucleoside triphosphate derivative contains an amine group that can be added to DNA using terminal transferase. The modified oligonucleotide then can be labeled with amine-reactive bioconjugation reagents to create a detectable probe.

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