Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 22, 2025

Author Spotlight: In Silico Creation and Impact of Carbonylated Amino Acids on Protein Structure and Function
Published on: April 26, 2024
Dehydroamino acid chemical biology: an example of functional group interconversion on proteins
1Center for Protein Degradation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 360 Longwood Avenue Boston MA 02215 USA lyn_jones@dfci.harvard.edu.
Abstract:
In nature, dehydroalanine (Dha) and dehydrobutyrine (Dhb) residues are byproducts of protein aging, intermediates in the biosynthesis of lanthipeptides and products of bacterial phospholyases that inactivate host kinase immune responses. Recent chemical biology studies have demonstrated the possibility of mapping dehydroamino acids in complex proteomes in an unbiased manner that could further our understanding of the role of Dha and Dhb in biology and disease more broadly. From a synthetic perspective, chemical mutagenesis through site-selective formation of the unsaturated residue and subsequent addition chemistry has yielded homogeneous proteins bearing a variety of post-translational modifications (PTMs) which have assisted fundamental biological research. This Opinion discusses these recent advances and presents new opportunities for protein engineering and drug discovery.
More Related Videos
10:31Residue-Specific Exchange of Proline by Proline Analogs in Fluorescent Proteins: How "Molecular Surgery" of the Backbone Affects Folding and Stability
Published on: February 3, 2022
10:24Genetic Incorporation of Biosynthesized L-dihydroxyphenylalanine DOPA and Its Application to Protein Conjugation
Published on: August 24, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Amino acids
Protein Folding
Protein Structure Is Critical to Its Biological Function
Proteins perform a wide range of biological functions such as catalyzing chemical reactions, providing...
What are Proteins?
Amides to Carboxylic Acids: Hydrolysis
Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis:
Hydrolysis of amides under acidic conditions yields carboxylic acids. Since the reaction occurs slowly, hydrolysis requires the conditions of heat.
The mechanism begins with the protonation of the carbonyl oxygen by the acid catalyst. The protonation makes the amide carbonyl carbon more...
Amines to Amides: Acylation of Amines
Next, the second equivalent of amine serves as a Brønsted base and deprotonates the quaternary...
Ligand Binding and Linkage