Abstract
The development of methods for reversibly folding membrane proteins in a two-state manner remains a considerable challenge for studies of membrane protein stability. In recent years, a variety of techniques have been established and studies of membrane protein folding thermodynamics in the native bilayer environments have become feasible. Here we present the thiol-disulfide exchange method, a promising experimental approach for investigating the thermodynamics of transmembrane (TM) helix–helix association in membrane-mimicking environments. The method involves initiating disulfide cross-linking of a protein under reversible redox conditions in a thiol-disulfide buffer and quantitative assessment of the extent of cross-linking at equilibrium. This experimental method provides a broadly applicable tool for thermodynamic studies of folding, oligomerization, and helix–helix interactions of membrane proteins.
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Cristian, L., Zhang, Y. (2013). Use of Thiol-Disulfide Exchange Method to Study Transmembrane Peptide Association in Membrane Environments. In: Ghirlanda, G., Senes, A. (eds) Membrane Proteins. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1063. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-583-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-583-5_1
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