The measurement of binding affinities by NMR chemical shift perturbation

We have carried out chemical shift perturbation titrations on three contrasting proteins. The resulting chemical shifts have been analysed to determine the best way to fit the data, and it is concluded that a simultaneous fitting of all raw shift data to a single dissociation constant is both the most accurate and the most precise method. It is shown that the optimal weighting of ¹⁵N chemical shifts to ¹H chemical shifts is protein dependent, but is around the consensus value of 0.14. We show that chemical shift changes of individual residues can be fit to give residue-specific affinities. Residues with affinities significantly stronger than average are found in close contact with the ligand and are suggested to form a rigid contact surface, but only when the binding involves little conformational change. This observation may be of value in analysing binding and conformational change.