[Biarsenical probes for specific and multifunctional modification of proteins]

Chemical modifications of proteins are crucial for studying their functions, biophysical properties and cellular localization. The most important is the protein fluorescent modification utilized in biochemistry, molecular biology and medicinal diagnostics. Precision of fluorophore attachment in certain part of the protein or amino acid sequence is very important for the labeling and subsequent characterization or protein applications. One of the most important type of probes used for fluorescent protein labeling are biarsenical probes. They are not only to localize proteins in cell but based on their chemical properties they are widely applied for studying protein folding, degradation, control of the activity, protein inactivation with singlet oxygen, oligomerization and protein purification. Here, author presents principles of protein labeling with biarsenical probes with special attention to factors affecting proper protein modification. Review includes the most interesting applications of biarsenical probes in molecular biology, molecular diagnostics and analytical biochemistry.