Evaluation of fully-functionalized diazirine tags for chemical proteomic applications.

The use of photo-affinity reagents for the mapping of noncovalent small molecule-protein interactions has become widespread. Recently, several 'fully-functionalized' (FF) chemical tags have been developed wherein a photoactivatable capture group, an enrichment handle, and a functional group for synthetic conjugation to a molecule of interest are integrated into a single modular tag. Diazirine-based FF tags in particular are increasingly employed in chemical proteomic investigations; however, despite routine usage, their relative utility has not been established.