Protein ligands - Definition

In biochemistry, a protein ligand is an atom, a molecule or an ion which can bind to a specific site on a protein. Interactions between any protein and its ligands are fundamental and essential for the protein to function properly.

Main methods to study protein-ligand interactions are principal hydrodynamic and calorimetric techniques, and principal spectroscopic and structural methods such as

• Fourier transform spectroscopy
• Raman spectroscopy
• fluorescence spectroscopy
• Circular dichroism
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Mass spectrometry
• Atomic force microscope
• paramagnetic probes