| abstract |
Methods are provided for selectively labeling phosphate groups in natural and synthetic oligomers and polymers in the presence of chemically relevant groups such as carboxylic acid groups. The method is particularly applicable to biological oligomers and polymers, including phosphopeptides, phosphoproteins and phospholipids. In certain embodiments, selectively labeling phosphate groups in proteins and peptides facilitates, for example, separation, isolation and detection of phosphoproteins and phosphopeptides in complex protein mixtures. A selective label can be used to selectively introduce a phosphate label to a phosphate group in an oligomer or polymer (eg, a peptide or protein). Detection of the presence of this label is used to detect the presence of a phosphate group in the oligomer or polymer. This method is useful for detecting phosphoproteins or phosphopeptides. |