Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry to Study Protein Complexes

Hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry (MS) can provide valuable information about binding, allostery, and other conformational effects of interaction in protein complexes. For protein-ligand complexes, where the ligand may be a small molecule, peptide, nucleotide, or another protein(s), a typical experiment measures HDX in the protein alone and then compares that with HDX for the protein when part of the complex. Multiple factors are critical in the design and implementation of such experiments, including thoughtful consideration of the percent protein bound, the effects of the labeling protocol on the protein complex, and the dynamic range of the analysis method. With careful planning and techniques, HDX MS analysis of protein complexes can be very informative.