Protein Reduction and Dialysis-Free Work-Up through Phosphines Immobilized on a Magnetic Support: TCEP-Functionalized Carbon-Coated Cobalt Nanoparticles

Adrian Zwyssig; Elia M Schneider; Martin Zeltner; Balder Rebmann; Vladimir Zlateski; Robert N Grass; Wendelin J Stark

doi:10.1002/chem.201701162

Protein Reduction and Dialysis-Free Work-Up through Phosphines Immobilized on a Magnetic Support: TCEP-Functionalized Carbon-Coated Cobalt Nanoparticles

Chemistry. 2017 Jun 27;23(36):8585-8589. doi: 10.1002/chem.201701162. Epub 2017 Jun 5.

Authors

Adrian Zwyssig¹, Elia M Schneider¹, Martin Zeltner¹, Balder Rebmann², Vladimir Zlateski¹, Robert N Grass¹, Wendelin J Stark¹

Affiliations

¹ D-CHAB, ICB, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Faculty of Biology, and Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, Schaenzlestrasse 18, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.

PMID: 28513883
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201701162

Abstract

Tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP) is an often-used reducing agent in biochemistry owing to its selectivity towards disulfide bonds. As TCEP causes undesired consecutive side reactions in various analytical methods (e.g., gel electrophoresis, protein labeling), it is usually removed by means of dialysis or gel filtration. Here, an alternative method of separation is presented, namely the immobilization of TCEP on magnetic nanoparticles. This magnetic reagent provides a simple and rapid approach to remove the reducing agent after successful reduction. A reduction capacity of 70 μmol per gram of particles was achieved by using surface-initiated atom transfer polymerization.

Keywords: TCEP; magnetic properties; nanoparticles; reduction; separation.