Comparison of Protein N-Homocysteinylation in Rat Plasma under Elevated Homocysteine Using a Specific Chemical Labeling Method.

Elevated blood concentrations of homocysteine have been well established as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and neuropsychiatric diseases, yet the etiologic relationship of homocysteine to these disorders remains poorly understood. Protein N-homocysteinylation has been hypothesized as a contributing factor; however, it has not been examined globally owing to the lack of suitable detection methods. We recently developed a selective chemical method to label N-homocysteinylated proteins with a biotin-aldehyde tag followed by Western blotting analysis, which was further optimized in this study.