Probing the mycobacterial trehalome with bioorthogonal chemistry

BM Swarts, CM Holsclaw, JC Jewett… - Journal of the …, 2012 - ACS Publications
BM Swarts, CM Holsclaw, JC Jewett, M Alber, DM Fox, MS Siegrist, JA Leary, R Kalscheuer…
Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012ACS Publications
Mycobacteria, including the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, use the non-mammalian
disaccharide trehalose as a precursor for essential cell-wall glycolipids and other
metabolites. Here we describe a strategy for exploiting trehalose metabolic pathways to
label glycolipids in mycobacteria with azide-modified trehalose (TreAz) analogues.
Subsequent bioorthogonal ligation with alkyne-functionalized probes enabled detection and
visualization of cell-surface glycolipids. Characterization of the metabolic fates of four TreAz …
Mycobacteria, including the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, use the non-mammalian disaccharide trehalose as a precursor for essential cell-wall glycolipids and other metabolites. Here we describe a strategy for exploiting trehalose metabolic pathways to label glycolipids in mycobacteria with azide-modified trehalose (TreAz) analogues. Subsequent bioorthogonal ligation with alkyne-functionalized probes enabled detection and visualization of cell-surface glycolipids. Characterization of the metabolic fates of four TreAz analogues revealed unique labeling routes that can be harnessed for pathway-targeted investigation of the mycobacterial trehalome.
ACS Publications