Tritium labeling for bio-med research

A very large fraction of what we know about biochemical pathways in the living cell has resulted from the use of radioactively-labeled tracer compounds; the use of tritium-labeled compounds has been particularly important. As research in biochemistry and biology has progressed the need has arisen to label compounds of higher specific activity and of increasing molecular complexity - for example, oligo-nucleotides, polypeptides, hormones, enzymes. Our laboratory has gradually developed special facilities for handling tritium at the kilocurie level. These facilities have already proven extremely valuable in producing labeled compounds that are not available from commercial sources. The principal ways employed for compound labeling are: (1) microwave discharge labeling, (2) catalytic tritio-hydrogenation, (3) catalytic exchange with T2O, and (4) replacement of halogen atoms by T. Studies have also been carried out on tritiation by the replacement of halogen atoms with T atoms. These results indicate that carrier-free tritium-labeled products, including biomacromolecules, can be produced in this way