Abstract
Protein–ligand interactions are of fundamental importance in almost all processes in living organisms. The ligands comprise small molecules, drugs or biological macromolecules and their interaction strength varies over several orders of magnitude. Solution NMR spectroscopy offers a large repertoire of techniques to study such complexes. Here, we give an overview of the different NMR approaches available. The information they provide ranges from the simple information about the presence of binding or epitope mapping to the complete 3 D structure of the complex. NMR spectroscopy is particularly useful for the study of weak interactions and for the screening of binding ligands with atomic resolution.
Highlights
Interactions of proteins with other molecules essentially define their functions.[1]
Some of the Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques used for investigating protein–ligand interactions only work in the fast exchange regime, while others are only possible for strongly interacting molecules in slow exchange
A pulsed field gradients (PFG) leads to varying precession frequencies for a particular signal across the NMR sample and defocusing of its magnetization
Summary
Interactions of proteins with other molecules essentially define their functions.[1]. In the slow exchange regime the lifetime of the protein–ligand complex is much longer than the difference in chemical shifts between two signals observed for the free (wf) and bound (wb) form that is, j wfÀwb j @ 1/koff. This situation, which is found typically for strong complexes results in two observable NMR signals. Some of the NMR techniques used for investigating protein–ligand interactions only work in the fast exchange regime, while others are only possible for strongly interacting molecules in slow exchange Their respective windows of interaction strength are discussed for the individual methods.
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