title: Zero-length crosslinking procedure with the use of active esters.
abstract: A two-step zero-length crosslinking procedure for studying protein-protein complexes has been developed. One component of a complex is briefly incubated with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) in the presence of N-hydroxysuccinimide resulting in the conversion of some of the protein carboxyls into succinimidyl esters. The reaction is stopped by addition of beta-mercaptoethanol and other interacting proteins are then added. Crosslinking arises from substitution of lysine epsilon-amino groups of these proteins for the succinimidyl moieties during a 1- to 2-h incubation period. The advantage of this method versus one-step zero-length crosslinking is that only one component of the complex is exposed to the crosslinker, which eliminates complications arising from the formation of crosslinks among several proteins of a multicomponent complex. Furthermore, crosslinks can be formed even in the presence of reagents, such as dithiothreitol and EDTA, that would interfere with direct crosslinking with EDC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Muscle Research, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Grabarek
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gergely
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins; D000818:Animals; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004952:Esters; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide; D008722:Methods; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis; D011485:Protein Binding; D011506:Proteins; D011817:Rabbits; D013388:Succinimides; D014335:Tropomyosin; D014336:Troponin
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004952:Esters; D011506:Proteins; D013388:Succinimides; D014335:Tropomyosin; D014336:Troponin; C001426:N-hydroxysuccinimide; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide