Isothermal Titration Calorimetry

Definition

Isothermal Titration Calorimetry is one of the most powerful analytical techniques in modern drug design. It exploits the method of thermal titrations to obtain the number of bound ligands per mole of protein (or biopolymer in general), i.e. the stoichiometry, as well as the relevant thermodynamic parameters such as standard reaction enthalpy , standard reaction entropy and the standard Gibbs energy change which relates to the equilibrium constant. Isothermal measurements can be performed in the temperature range from close to 0°C up to 80°C. This permits to obtain the important information on the variation with temperature of all parameters.

Description

Binding phenomena are the essence of biological regulation. The quantitative understanding of these interactions in molecular terms forms therefore the basis of all pharmaceutical and medicinal activities to evolve strategies for coping with malfunctions of organisms. The indispensable