Activity‐Based Proteome Profiling Probes Based on Woodward's Reagent K with Distinct Target Selectivity

Woodward's reagent K (WRK) is a reactive heterocyclic compound that has been employed in protein chemistry to covalently and unspecifically label proteins at nucleophilic amino acids, notably at histidine and cysteine. We have developed a panel of WRK-derived activity-based probes and show that surprisingly and unexpectedly, these probes are fairly selective for a few proteins in the human proteome. The WRK-derived probes show unique reactivity towards the catalytic N-terminal proline in the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and can be used to label and, if equipped with a fluorophore, to image MIF activities in living cells.