Design and synthesis of fluorescent glycolipid photoaffinity probes and their photoreactivity

Abstract

Glycolipid–protein interactions at the cell surface are implicated in various biological processes. Toward the investigation of glycolipid binding proteins, we designed and synthesized trifunctional photoaffinity probes, which present a sugar head group with a triazole linkage to the lipid tail unit containing a photoreactive group and a fluorescent tag. The glycolipid photoaffinity probes bearing benzophenone group or diazirine group were evaluated for their photocrosslinking reactivity toward a carbohydrate head group specific protein. The diazirine based glycolipid photoaffinity probe was found to be more effective than the benzophenone-based probe in a comparative analysis involving a competitive ligand to distinguish a specific binding protein.