Surface plasmon resonance as a method to study the kinetics and amplitude of protein-protein binding

Abstract

The topic of protein-protein interactions has become a major research area in recent years. The reductionist approach of identifying individual genes and proteins is now being matched by the analysis of the interactions that individual players undergo. One could intuitively argue that molecules in a cell are absent of function if they cannot associate and interact with others. The product of a gene is a character in a play, not the play itself. It is in the way the players interact that a function is achieved. Here, we review the basic theory and some of the practical aspects in the application of a technique called "surface plasmon resonance" (SPR) to study intermolecular interactions in vitro. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.