Recent biomedical advances enabled by HaloTag technology

[摘要] The knowledge of interactions among functional proteins helps researchers understand disease mechanismsand design potential strategies for treatment. As a general approach, the fluorescent and affinity tags were employedfor exploring this field by labeling the Protein of Interest (POI). However, the autofluorescence and weak bindingstrength significantly reduce the accuracy and specificity of these tags. Conversely, HaloTag, a novel self-labelingenzyme (SLE) tag, could quickly form a covalent bond with its ligand, enabling fast and specific labeling of POI.These desirable features greatly increase the accuracy and specificity, making the HaloTag a valuable system forvarious applications ranging from imaging to immobilization of POI. Notably, the HaloTag technique has alreadybeen successfully employed in a series of studies with excellent efficiency. In this review, we summarize thedevelopment of HaloTag and recent advanced investigations associated with HaloTag, including in vitro imaging (e.g.,POI imaging, cellular condition monitoring, microorganism imaging, system development), in vivo imaging,biomolecule immobilization (e.g., POI collection, protein/nuclear acid interaction and protein structure analysis),targeted degradation (e.g., L-AdPROM), and more. We also present a systematic discussion regarding the futuredirection and challenges of the HaloTag technique.

[学科分类] 仪器

[关键词] HaloTag;Site-specific labeling;Biomolecule interaction;Molecular imaging;Positron emission tomography