Colleagues, Some years ago, Ray Stevens published a nice paper on a cysteine-reactive dye (CPM) that could be used in a Thermofluor-type thermal shift assay for membrane proteins. (The fluorescence of the ANS dyes, used for soluble proteins, increases with low dielectric, which is fine for assaying exposure of a soluble protein core but not so good for detergent-containing solutions.)
Anyway, I'm curious to know (get some feedback) on: 1) whether any membrane-protein-ologists out there find this to be a productive/useful pre-crystallization screening tool. 2) whether good results are obtained using an RT-PCR cycler instead of a fluorimeter (and/or fluorescence plate reader). Thanks in advance. Sincerely, -MW
