A novel thiol-affinity micropipette tip method using zinc(II)-cyclen-attached agarose beads for enrichment of cysteine-containing molecules

Abstract

Cysteine-containing biomolecules are attractive targets in the study of thiol biology. Here we introduce a novel method for the selective enrichment of thiol-containing molecules using a thiol-capture zinc(II) complex of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (Zn(2+)-cyclen). Recognition of N-acetylcysteine amide by Zn(2+)-cyclen has been studied by potentiometric pH titration, revealing formation of a 1:1 thiolate-bound Zn(2+)-cyclen complex with a large thiolate-affinity constant of 10(6.2)M(-1) at 25°C and I=0.10M (NaCl). The Zn(2+)-bound thiolate anion is unexpectedly stable in aqueous solution at pH 7.8 under atmospheric conditions for a few days. These findings have contributed to the development of a convenient method for separation of thiol compounds by using a micropipette tip. A 200μL micropipette tip containing 10μL of hydrophilic cross-linked agarose beads attached to Zn(2+)-cyclen moieties was prepared. All steps for thiol-affinity separation (binding, washing, and eluting) are conducted using aqueous buffers at room temperature. The entire separation protocol requires less than 15min per sample. We demonstrate practical example separations of cysteine-containing molecules. This micropipette tip method would be used preferentially as an alternative to existing tools for reliable enrichment of thiol-containing molecules.

Keywords: Macrocyclic tetraamine; Thiol-affinity chromatography; Thiolate recognition; Zinc(II) complex.