Evolution of Chemistry for Precision Engineering of Proteins

Abstract

A chemical toolbox for protein bioconjugation drives the innovation at the biology-medicine interface. It provides an alternative to thebiochemical approaches while enabling access to a much more significant proteome segment. However, “precision” was often elusive from the bioconjugation methods till recently. The increasing knowledge of core principles for bond formation and dissociation with proteins has led to multiple breakthroughs in recent years. It also unraveled protein-driven reactivity and selectivity attributes unknown to small molecules′ chemical reaction repositories. This research field promises to address the growing demands in protein-based diagnostics and therapeutics.