Stability of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Reverse Transcriptase Heterodimer

This application note describes the characterization of a heteroassociating system. The thermodissociation is studied using band sedimentation analysis, whilst the electrostatic dissociation is studied using boundary sedimentation analysis. Analytical ultracentrifugation represents a powerful methodology for expressing HIV-1 viral components. In conjunction with appropriate data analysis methodologies, analytical ultracentrifugation can be used to examine sample purity, detect and characterize conformational changes, determine subunit stoichiometries, characterize assembly and disassembly mechanisms of macromolecular complexes, and measure equilibrium constants and thermodynamic parameters of associating systems.