Electrochemical Modification of Proteins. A Review

INTRODUCTION

The majority of electrochemical studies of biomolecules have been analytical in nature, usually involving electron transfer by redox proteins. Synthetic applications of electrochemistry to proteins, leading to the production of recoverable products, has been far less widely studied. However, the use of proteins in electrosynthesis, exemplified by hen egg-white lysozyme, demonstrates that the reaction parameters of pH, potential difference, electrode material etc., can be varied in order to target different individual amino acid residues including tyrosine, tryptophan and methionine. This methodology provides a novel route to quantities of selectively-modified proteins.