Anionic surfactants enhance click reaction-mediated protein conjugation with ubiquitin

The Cu(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) has become increasingly important in the conjugation chemistry of biomolecules. For example, it is an efficient and convenient method to generate defined ubiquitin-protein conjugates. Here, we investigate the effect of surfactants on the efficiency of CuAAC for chemical protein ubiquitylation. We found that anionic surfactants enhance conjugate formation by up to 10-fold resulting in high yields even at low (i.e., micromolar) concentrations of the reactants. Notably, the herein investigated conjugates are functional and thus properly folded.