Clever biomolecular labelling enables identification of immune cells

A new technique using a complex of manganese, allows efficient labelling of, for instance, immune CD8+ T-cells with a flourescent lipopeptide Photo: Nikolaos Kaplaneris, University of Göttingen Research team led by the University of Göttingen develops new strategy for labelling peptides Biomolecules regulate the biological functions inside every living cell. If scientists can understand the molecular mechanisms of such functions, then it is possible to detect severe dysfunction which can lead to illness. At a molecular level, this can be achieved with fluorescent markers that are specifically incorporated into the respective biomolecules. In the past, this has been achieved by incorporating a marker in the biomolecule by completely rebuilding it from the beginning, necessitating a large number of steps. Unfortunately, this approach not only takes a lot of time and resources, but also produces unwanted waste products. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Edinburgh have now been able to show that a non-toxic complex of the common metal manganese makes it possible to conveniently label a class of special biomolecules known as peptides right at the last minute of their synthesis. This means the mechanism of action of these labelled peptides can be investigated efficiently.