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Protein Labeling

SNAP- and CLIP-tag™ protein labeling systems enable the specific, covalent attachment of virtually any molecule to a protein of interest. There are two steps to using this system: cloning and expression of the protein of interest as a SNAP-tag® fusion, and labeling of the fusion with the SNAP-tag substrate of choice. The SNAP-tag is a small protein based on human O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (hAGT), a DNA repair protein. SNAP-tag substrates are dyes, fluorophores, biotin, or beads conjugated to guanine or chloropyrimidine leaving groups via a benzyl linker. In the labeling reaction, the substituted benzyl group of the substrate is covalently attached to the SNAP-tag. CLIP-tag is a modified version of SNAP-tag, engineered to react with benzylcytosine rather than benzylguanine derivatives. When used in conjunction with SNAP-tag, CLIP-tag enables the orthogonal and complementary labeling of two proteins simultaneously in the same cells. 

CLIP-tag™ is a trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.
SNAP-tag® is a registered trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.

FAQs for Protein Labeling

Protocols for Protein Labeling

Features

  • Clone and express once, then use with a variety of substrates
  • Non-toxic to living cells
  • Wide selection of fluorescent substrates
  • Highly specific covalent labeling
  • Simultaneous dual labeling

Applications

  • Simultaneous dual protein labeling inside live cells
  • Protein localization and translocation
  • Pulse-chase experiments
  • Receptor internalization studies
  • Selective cell surface labeling
  • Protein pull-down assays
  • Protein detection in SDS-PAGE
  • Flow cytometry
  • High throughput binding assays in microtiter plates
  • Biosensor interaction experiments
  • FRET-based binding assays
  • Single molecule labeling
  • Super-resolution microscopy

Protein Labeling with SNAP-tag and CLIP-tag

The SNAP- (gold) or CLIP-tag (purple) is fused to the protein of interest (blue). Labeling occurs through covalent attachment to the tag, releasing either a guanine or a cytosine moiety.

Protein Labeling with ACP-tag

ACP-tag (red) fused to the protein of interest (blue) is labeled in the presence of a required synthase.

Legal Information

This product is covered by one or more patents, trademarks and/or copyrights owned or controlled by New England Biolabs, Inc (NEB).

While NEB develops and validates its products for various applications, the use of this product may require the buyer to obtain additional third party intellectual property rights for certain applications.

For more information about commercial rights, please contact NEB's Global Business Development team at gbd@neb.com.

This product is intended for research purposes only. This product is not intended to be used for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes in humans or animals.

Videos

  1. fluorescent_COS7_thumb

    Fluorescent Labeling of COS-7 Expressing SNAP-tag Fusion Proteins for Live Cell Imaging

    Watch as Chris Provost, of New England Biolabs, performs fluorescent imaging of live COS-7 cells expressing SNAP-tag® fusion proteins.

  2. SNAPtag_Tutorial_thumb

    SNAP-tag Overview Tutorial

    View an interactive tutorial explaining the mechanism of our SNAP-tag® technologies and reagents available for researchers wishing to study the function and localization of proteins in live or fixed cells.

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