Exploring protein interfaces with a general photochemical reagent.

ABSTRACT: Protein folding, natural conformational changes, or interaction between partners involved in recognition phenomena brings about differences in the solvent-accessible surface area (SASA) of the polypeptide chain. This primary event can be monitored by the differential chemical reactivity of functional groups along the protein sequence. Diazirine (DZN), a photoreactive gas similar in size to water, generates methylene carbene (:CH(2)). The extreme chemical reactivity of this species allows the almost instantaneous and indiscriminate modification of its immediate molecular cage. (3)H-DZN was successfully used in our laboratory for studying protein structure and folding. Here we address for the first time the usefulness of this probe to examine the area of interaction in protein-protein comple

SUBMITTER: Gomez GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2242476 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature