Homocysteine is an amino acid containing a free thiol moiety. The level of homocysteine in plasma relates to cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, and the measurement of homocysteine is important for diagnosis of such disease. However, selective a...
Homocysteine is an amino acid containing a free thiol moiety. The level of homocysteine in plasma relates to cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, and the measurement of homocysteine is important for diagnosis of such disease. However, selective and efficient detection of Homocysteine (Hcy) is difficult due to the interference of structurely similar compounds such as Cysteine (Cys) and Glutathione (Glu). To develop a selective detection method, we synthesized an adduct of homocysteine and a coumarin-derivative, and screened M13 bacteriophage library displaying single chain variable fragment (scFv). After 4 rounds of biopanning, a scFv clone which is specific to homocysteine coumarin-derivative was identified. The purified scFv showed specific binding on homocysteine coumarin–derivative, not cysteine coumarin-derivative. This scFv will be used for an efficient and selective detection of homocysteine in plasma.
Keyword : homocysteine, cysteine, hyperhomocysteinemia, M13 phage display library, single chain antibody, complementarity determining region, biopanning