Elsevier, Toxicon: An Interdisciplinary Journal on the Toxins Derived from Animals, Plants and Microorganisms, 3(42), p. 225-228, 2003
DOI: 10.1016/s0041-0101(03)00197-1
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Pore-formation in cell membranes is used by many toxins to kill cells. It is usually a process involving multiple steps that are difficult to analyse at the molecular level. The use of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has only recently been introduced into the study of pore-forming toxins (PFT). It can give useful data mostly on the first steps of the pore-forming process; the binding to the lipid membranes. In particular, it can make unique contributions to our knowledge of ligand specificity and the kinetics of binding. This mini-review summarizes some recent SPR studies of PFT.