Surface plasmon resonance for measurements of biological interest

Genetic manipulations, including gene knock-outs and mutant screens, provide an initial hint as to the function of a gene product and indicate possible associated factors. To unravel complicated biological processes, which control the development of organisms, one must identify the interacting components. An in vitro technique based on an optical phenomenon, called surface plasmon resonance (SPR), can simultaneously detect interactions between unmodified proteins and directly measure kinetic parameters of the interaction. This technique is gaining popularity, due to the increased availabilty of user-friendly machines, and an overview of the technology is presented in this unit.