UK Research Cited by 'Faculty of 1000 Biology'

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 17, 2010) – A research article by a team of scientists at the University of Kentucky was cited as recommended reading by "Faculty of 1000 Biology," an online service that highlights and evaluates papers published in the biological sciences, based on the recommendations of over 2,000 of the world's top researchers.

The article, "Hexahistidine-tag-specific optical probes for analyses of proteins and their interactions," was published in the scientific journal Analytical Biochemistry in December. The authors are Chunxia Zhao and Lance M. Hellman, graduate students in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry; Xin Zhan, graduate student in the Department of Chemistry; and Sidney W. Whiteheart and Michael G. Fried, professors in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

The goal of this research was to develop a method of labeling proteins of interest that would allow scientists to detect and study them in mixtures containing many other different molecules. The method that the UK researchers developed takes advantage of a "histidine tag" structure that is often added to proteins when their genes are cloned. 

This histidine tag is very useful in purifying proteins, because it enables them to stick to chemically reactive surfaces while other molecules are washed away. The UK researchers adapted the same kind of chemistry to attach a colorful dye to the histidine tag. Because the labeling reaction is specific for the tag, tag-containing proteins can be detected in mixtures that contain many untagged ones.

The labeling reactions are easy to perform and are very gentle, allowing researchers  to study dye-labeled proteins without disturbing their native properties. This new method will allow scientists to learn the properties and functions of individual proteins in complicated biological solutions such as blood and cerebrospinal fluid.