The invention provides Zn-chelating compounds that are molecularly engineered to bind to a specific target sequence in a protein of interest. The Zn
2+
0 ion is far less toxic and promiscuous than nickel and therefore provides an attractive alternative to Ni-based labeling systems. Invention Zn-chelating compounds also do not require oxidizable thiols and therefore can be used in non-reducing environments such as the surface of living cells. In addition, the target sequence is genetically encodable and requires incorporation of only a few amino acids, unlike fusions to fluorescent proteins such as GFP.
这项发明提供了分子工程设计的Zn螯合化合物,可以结合到感兴趣蛋白质中的特定靶标序列。Zn2+0离子比
镍毒性和广泛性要小得多,因此是
镍基标记系统的一个有吸引力的替代选择。该发明的Zn螯合化合物也不需要可氧化的
硫醇,因此可以在非还原环境中使用,比如
生物细胞表面。此外,靶标序列是遗传可编码的,只需要引入少量
氨基酸,不像与荧光蛋白(如GFP)融合那样需要。