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Cover Picture: A Chemical Approach to Immunoprotein Engineering: Chemoselective Functionalization of Thioester Proteins in Their Native State (ChemBioChem 8/2009)
Author(s) -
Cole Michael A.,
Tully Sarah E.,
Dodds Alister W.,
Arnold James N.,
Boldt Grant E.,
Sim Robert B.,
Offer John,
Wentworth Paul
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.200990027
Subject(s) - thioester , chemistry , bioconjugation , haystack , biochemistry , combinatorial chemistry , computer science , artificial intelligence , enzyme
The cover picture shows chemoselective labeling of the “buried” macrocyclic thiolactone‐containing component of complement protein C3 with a variety of hydrazide probes. C3, C4, and α 2 ‐macroglobulin play crucial roles within the complement system and as blood homeostasis regulators. Given their role in the immune system and disease, these proteins and their resulting processed fragments are highly studied, and the generation of chemically defined conjugates of these proteins offers the potential for significant advances in vaccine design and applied immunological studies. The hydrazide functionalities shown in the lower portion of this image have been used to chemoselectively label the thioester site with molecular tags, thus providing a new bioconjugation approach for thioester proteins and insight into the chemical accessibility of the thioester site. In the background of this cover image is a haystack landscape by Claude Monet representing the ability of these probes to reach these thioester “needles” within their protein scaffold and selectively label them within the complex plasma “haystack”. For further details, see the article by P. Wentworth et al. on p. 1340 ff.