Conformational insight into multi-protein signaling assemblies by hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry

Hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry (MS) can provide information about proteins that can be challenging to obtain by other means. Structure/function relationships, binding interactions, and the effects of modification have all been measured with HDX MS for a diverse and growing array of signaling proteins and multiprotein signaling complexes. As a result of hardware and software improvements, receptors and complexes involved in cellular signaling-including those associated with membranes-can now be studied. The growing body of HDX MS studies of signaling complexes at membranes is particularly exciting. Recent examples are presented to illustrate what can be learned about signaling proteins with this technique.