Disease relevance of azidobenzene

• Using phenyl-azide-mediated photocrosslinking, we show that the alpha carbon of amino acid 2 of the helix-turn-helix motif of bacteriophage lambda Cro is within 12 A of the bottom-strand nucleotides at positions 2 and 3 of the DNA half site in the Cro-DNA complex in solution [1].

High impact information on azidobenzene

• A biologically active CT analogue, [Arg11,18, Lys14]sCT, derivatized with the photoreactive phenylazide cross-linking agent, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-4-azidobenzoate, was used to identify receptor components of Mr approximately 88,000 and approximately 71,000 in both particulate placental membranes and the solubilized extract [2].
• Specifically, two phr probes representing the 139-172 bp region of the MVM P4 promoter were constructed in which the highly phr phenylazide group was attached with a linker at nucleotide 168, towards the side of the GC box proximal to the TATA box [3].
• The photoactivable compound phenylazide interacts reversibly with the frog's olfactory epithelium when delivered as an olfactory stimulus [4].
• In bacteriorhodopsin, photoaffinity studies using a retinal with a C-10 tritiated phenylazide appended through a 13 A spacer cross-linked to Arg-175/Asn-176 on the cytoplasmic side of helix F; this indicates that 9-Me points toward the extracellular space [5].
• Based on the photoreactive chemistry of a phenylazide group, a novel surface micropatterning technology for cultured cells was successfully developed [6].

References