Surface plasmon resonance: a useful strategy for the identification of small molecule argonaute 2 protein binders

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is one of the most important techniques for the detection and the characterization of molecular interactions. SPR technology is a label-free approach for monitoring biomolecular interactions in real time. The binding of analytes to molecules immobilized on a thin metal film (ligand) determines a change in the refractive index and, therefore in the angle of extinction of light, is reflected when polarized light hits the film, monitored in real time as a change in the position of the dip in reflected intensity. Since SPR detects mass, the technique is label-free. Here, we describe the use of SPR techniques to study the interaction between Argonaute 2 and small molecular compounds selected by means of high-throughput docking screening.