Biotinamido pentylamine

The derivative 5-(biotinamido)pentylainine contains a 5-carbon cadaverine spacer group attached to the valeric acid side chain of biotin (Pierce). The compound can be used in a carbodiimide reaction process to label carboxylate groups in proteins and other molecules, forming amide bond linkages (Chapter 3, Section 1). However, the main use of this biotinylation reagent is in the determination of factor Xllla or transglutaminase enzymes in plasma, cell, or tissue extracts. 

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Figure 11.13 5-(Biotinamido)pentylamine can be used to label glutamine residues in proteins by enzymatic action of transglutaminase.

Slaughter, T.F., Achyuthan, K.E., Lai, T.-S., and Greenberg, C.S. (1992) A microtiter plate transglutaminase assay utilizing 5-(biotinamido)pentylamine as substrate. Anal. Biochem. 205, 1-6. 

Covalently modified nanotube tips also offer the possibility of probing biological systems at the nanometer scale this was demonstrated using biotin-streptavidin. 5-(Biotinamido)pentylamine was covalently linked to nanotube tips through amide bonds, and force-displacement measurements were completed on mica surfaces containing immobilized streptavidin. A well-defined binding force of 200 pN per biotin-steptavidin pair was obtained. Control experiments were carried out with an excess of free biotin, which blocks all receptor sites of the protein, and unmodified nanotube tips showed no adhesion within the noise limits of the experiments. Thus the observed binding force resulted from the interaction of nanotube-linked biotin with the surface of streptavidin. 

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