The present invention relates to modified
streptavidin molecules that are resistant to cleavage by Lys-C or other
proteases. These modified
streptavidin molecules can be produced by
chemical modification of natural
streptavidin, by
chemical synthesis or by
genetic engineering. The invention also relates to
nucleic acid molecules encoding these modified streptavidin molecules, to vectors comprising such
nucleic acid molecules, and to cells comprising such
nucleic acid molecules or vectors. The invention further relates to
solid supports and kits comprising the modified streptavidin molecules. The invention also relates to the use of such modified streptavidin molecules or such
solid supports for the capture / immobilization of proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides (e.g. aptamers), polynucleotides (e.g.
DNA,
RNA, or PNA), lipids, (poly) saccharides, carbohydrates, metabolites, drugs and small molecules, natural and synthetic molecules and to the use of these modified streptavidin molecules or these
solid supports in
mass spectrometry for the identification of proteins that interact with aforementioned (bio)molecules. The invention further relates to a method for reducing background in
mass spectrometry by employing the modified streptavidin molecules.