Surface Plasmon Resonance Analysis of the Protein-protein Binding Specificity Using Autolab ESPIRIT

Direct protein-protein interactions are known to regulate a wide range of cellular activities. To understand these contacts one can employ various experimental methods like Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), Chemical crosslinking, Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and many more. Among these, SPR stands out as a quick, label-free, reliable, and accurate quantitation technique. We have used SPR to elucidate the linkage between 14-3-3 Protein 3 (EhP3) and the actin cytoskeleton in the protist pathogen Entamoeba histolytica. It allowed us to screen EhP3 binding with several actin-binding/actin regulatory proteins (Coactosin, Actophorin, Twinfilin, Profilin, and Filamin). Our screening results suggested Coactosin as an important interacting partner of EhP3. A complete kinetic analysis indeed confirmed that EhCoactosin binds EhP3 with an affinity constant of 3 μM.