Detection of galectin-3 by novel peptidic photoprobes

Photoprobes were prepared with specificity for binding, labeling, and visualizing galectin-3 in a mixture of proteins. The probes were derived from a galectin-3 binding 15-mer peptide sequence in which a benzophenone photolabel was incorporated at the N-terminus and in another case as a phenyl alanine replacement in the middle of the sequence. Detection of galectin-3 was possible in Escherichia coli lysates that were spiked with various amounts of galectin-3.