Herein, we develop a convenient method to facilitate the solution-phase fluorescent labelling of peptides based on the chemoselective acylation of α-hydrazinopeptides. This approach combines the advantages of using commercially available amine-reactive dyes and very mild conditions, which are fully compatible with the chemical sensitivity of the dyes. The usefulness of this approach was demonstrated by the labelling of apelin-13 peptide. Various fluorescent probes were readily synthesized, enabling the rapid optimization of their affinities for the apelin receptor. Thus, the first far-red fluorescent ligand with sub-nanomolar affinity for the apelin receptor was characterized and shown to track the receptor efficiently in living cells by fluorescence confocal microscopy.
Keywords: G-protein-coupled receptors; chemical ligation; fluorescent probes; hydrazinopeptides; receptors.
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