M is for Chemoproteomic Momentum
Why methionine could have a place in the chemoproteomics toolbox
An October Nature paper from a University of Cambridge team is the second in as many years to highlight the utility of functionalizing methionine, an amino acid that has garnered less attention than others in the chemoproteomics toolbox.
Chemoproteomics involves using chemical probes to bind and tag a reactive site, then isolating tagged proteins for identification. Among the field’s pioneers is Ben Cravatt, a professor of chemical physiology at The Scripps Research Institute who founded three companies -- Vividion Therapeutics Inc., Abide Therapeutics Inc., and ActivX Biosciences Inc., now a subsidiary of Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4569) -- based on functionalization technologies for lysine and cysteine (see “K Follows C in Chemoproteomics”)...