Circular dichroism spectroscopy for the study of protein-ligand interactions

Alison Rodger*, Rachel Marrington, David Roper, Stuart Windsor

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Circular dichroism (CD) is the difference in absorption of left and right circularly polarized light, usually by a solution containing the molecules of interest. A signal is only measured for chiral molecules such as proteins. A CD spectrum provides information about the bonds and structures responsible for this chirality. When a small molecule (or ligand) binds to a protein, it acquires an induced CD (ICD) spectrum through chiral perturbation to its structure or electron rearrangements. The wavelengths of this ICD are determined by the ligand's own absorption spectrum, and the intensity of the ICD spectrum is determined by the strength and geometry of its interaction with the protein. Thus, ICD can be used to probe the binding of ligands to proteins. This chapter outlines protein CD and ICD, together with some of the issues relating to experimental design and implementation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)343-364
Number of pages22
JournalMethods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Volume305
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes

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