Assaying for Arginyltransferase Activity and Specificity by Peptide Arrays

Here, we describe arginylation assays performed on peptide arrays immobilized on cellulose membranes via chemical synthesis. In this assay, it is possible to simultaneously compare arginylation activity on hundreds of peptide substrates to analyze the specificity of arginyltransferase ATE1 toward its target site(s) and the amino acid sequence context. This assay was successfully employed in prior studies to dissect the arginylation consensus site and enable predictions of arginylated proteins encoded in eukaryotic genomes.