Adenovirus vector-based incorporation of a photo-cross-linkable amino acid into proteins in human primary cells and cancerous cell lines.

The site-specific incorporation of cross-linkable designer amino acids into proteins is useful for covalently bonding protein complexes upon exposure to light. This technology can be used to study networks of protein-protein interactions in living cells; however, to date it has only been applicable for use with a narrow range of cell types, due to the limited availability of plasmid-based transfection protocols. In the present study, we achieved adenovirus-based expression of a variant of an archaeal pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase and UAG-recognising tRNA pair, which was used to incorporate unnatural amino acids into proteins at sites defined by in-frame UAG codons within genes.