Fluorescent isotope-coded affinity tag 2: peptide labeling and affinity capture

Fluorescent isotope-coded affinity tag (FCAT) is a novel reagent to label cysteine-containing peptides. The fluorescein group on the tag enables absolute quantification by fluorescence detection, also supporting affinity capture of the labeled peptides. In this paper we report the synthesis of the heavy isotopic form of the FCAT reagent and its use in labeling tryptic peptides. The heavy form of the reagent exhibited the same reactivity and chromatographic behavior that of the light version. Effective labeling of tryptic peptides from alpha-lactalbumin, fetuin, BSA and phosphorylase b was attained by using both the heavy and light FCAT tags. Selective capture of the FCAT-labeled peptides was easily performed by pipette tips containing either anti-FITC antibody or iminodiacetic-acid-coated beads. The differently labeled peptides were separated by RP HPLC and analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS.