Functional groups, modification, protein

We explored the detection and quantification of specific functional groups in proteins using quantitative specific chemical modifications that contain elements with high detection sensitivity. Fluorine was introduced specifically into Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) by N-trifluoracetylation of the e-amino group of lysine using ethyl thiotrifluoracetate (47). The fluorine electron spectrum from N-trifluoracetylated BSA is shown in Figure 18. 

The unexpected specificity which can be achieved with functional group modification reagents is an apparent consequence of the native protein s ability to impose a unique chemical environment on a given amino acid under a given set of experimental conditions. It is important to emphasize that the site-specific modification of a protein is a kinetic phenomenon and selective modifications result from the ability of the protein to alter the reaction rate of a single residue under one clearly defined condition of pH, ionic strength and temperature. For example, it is entirely possible that if, at pH 7.0, one lysine residue is substantially more reactive than either free lysine or other lysine residues in the protein it may well be less reactive than these at pH 9.0. 

The chemical modification of protein is of importance for a number of reasons. It provides derivatives suitable for sequence analysis, identifies the reactive groups in catalytically active sites of an enzyme, enables the binding of protein to a carrier (protein immobilization) and provides changes in protein properties which are important in food processing. In contrast to free amino acids and except for the relatively small number of functional groups on the terminal amino acids, only the functional groups on protein side chains are available for chemical reactions. 

Evolution has provided the cell with a repertoire of 20 amino acids to build proteins. The diversity of amino acid side chain properties is enormous, yet many additional functional groups have been selectively chosen to be covalently attached to side chains and this further increases the unique properties of proteins. Diese additional groups play a regulatory role allowing the cell to respond to changing cellular conditions and events. Known covalent modifications of proteins now include phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, ubi-quitylation, hydroxylation, uridylylation and glycosyl-ation, among many others. Intense study in this field has shown the addition of a phosphate moiety to a protein... 

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