Synthesis and Application of a Suite of 2,5-Aryl Tetrazole Photoaffinity-Based Probes for Profiling Microbial Carbohydrate and Mucin Metabolism in Gut Microbiota

Photoaffinity-based chemoproteomics provides a strategy for interrogating protein engagement and networks within complex biological systems. In the context of carbohydrate metabolism, however, linking the probe structure to glycan-processing networks remains challenging due to the diversity and redundancy of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). Here, we employ 2,5-tetrazoles as photoreactive groups to develop a suite of monosaccharide-bearing probes designed to capture carbohydrate-associated protein environments in gut microorganisms. Across defined bacterial cultures and human fecal lysates, tetrazole probes enriched glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and additional carbohydrate-associated proteins, including transporters and regulatory elements. Notably, enrichment profiles were functionally biased toward glycan-processing modules, despite minimal shifts in global protein abundance under different growth conditions. These findings demonstrate that tetrazole chemoproteomics complements abundance-based proteomics by reporting on glycan-associated protein engagement and organization. Together, this probe suite provides a substrate-centric approach to studying carbohydrate-processing networks in defined microbes and complex microbiomes.