Hydrazide reactive peptide tags for site-specific protein labeling

New site-specific protein labeling (SSPL) reactions for targeting-specific, short peptides could be useful for the real-time detection of proteins inside of living cells. One SSPL approach matches bioorthogonal reagents with complementary peptides. Here, hydrazide reactive peptides were selected from phage-displayed libraries using reaction-based selections. Selection conditions included washes of varying pH and treatment with NaCNBH(3) in order to specifically select reactive carbonyl-containing peptides. Selected peptides were fused to T4 lysozyme or synthesized on filter paper for colorimetric assays of the peptide-hydrazide interaction. A peptide-lysozyme protein fusion demonstrated specific, covalent labeling by the hydrazide reactive (HyRe) peptides in crude bacterial cell lysates, sufficient for the specific detection of an overexpressed protein fusion. Chemical synthesis of a short HyRe tag variant and subsequent reaction with two structurally distinct hydrazide probes produced covalent adducts observable by MALDI-TOF MS and MS/MS. Rather than isolating reactive carbonyl-containing peptides, we observed reaction with the N-terminal His of HyRe tag 114, amino acid sequence HKSNHSSKNRE, which attacks the hydrazide carbonyl at neutral pH. However, at the pH used during selection wash steps (<6.0), an alternative imine-containing product is formed that can be reduced with sodium cyanoborohydride. MSMS further reveals that this low pH product forms an adduct on Ser6. Further optimization of the novel bimolecular reaction described here could provide a useful tool for in vivo protein labeling and bioconjugate synthesis. The reported selection and screening methods could be widely applicable to the identification of peptides capable of other site-specific protein labeling reactions with bioorthogonal reagents.