L-Homopropargyl glycine is a reactive methionine analog that contains an alkyne moiety. It is readily inserted into newly-synthesized proteins in place of methionine. L-Homopropargyl glycine can then be labeled or captured through click chemistry. This approach represents a fast, sensitive, and non-radioactive alternative to [35S]-methionine for the detection of nascent protein synthesis.
L-Homopropargylglycine (HPG) is an amino acid analog of methionine that contains a very small modification, specifically an alkyne moiety. This compound can be fed to cultured cells and incorporated into proteins during active protein synthesis. Detection utilizes the chemoselective ligation or “click” reaction between an azide and an alkyne or cyclooctyne. For example the alkyne-modified protein can be detected with either fluorescent azide or biotin azide. Detection sensitivity with these reagents in 1-D gels and Western blots is in the low femtomole range and compatible with downstream LC-MS/MS and MALDI-MS analysis.
