Chemistry of Crosslinking.

Abstract

Crosslinking is the process of chemically joining two or more molecules by a covalent bond. The technique, often called bioconjugation when referring to its use with proteins and other biomolecules, is an essential component of many proteomics methods, including creation of detectable probes for western blotting and ELISA and strategies for investigating protein structure and interactions Crosslinking reagents (or crosslinkers) are molecules that contain two or more reactive ends capable or chemically attaching to specific functional groups (primary amines, sulfhydryls, etc.) on proteins or other molecules. This article describes the chemistry and variety of crosslinkers that exist.