Construction of Biotinylated Annexin V for Detection of Apoptosis

The biotinylated annexin V was generated by genetic engineering method. The encoding region of annexin V was fused with a gene coding for the carboxyl terminal 87 residues of Escherichia coli biotin carboxyl carrier protein. The fused gene was expressed in E.coli and the annexin V was biotinylated in vivo. The biotinylation efficiency was about 60% as detected by HPLC. The biotinylated annexin V was purified by avidin affinity chromatography and used to detect the apoptosis of the neurons induced by morphine.