HX and Me: Understanding Allostery, Folding, and Protein Machines

Abstract

My accidental encounter with protein hydrogen exchange (HX) at its very beginning and its continued development through my scientific career have led us to a series of advances in HX measurement, interpretation, and cutting edge biophysical applications. After some thoughts about how life brought me there, I take the opportunity to reflect on our early studies of allosteric structure and energy change in hemoglobin, the still-current protein folding problem, and our most recent forward-looking studies on protein machines.

Keywords: AAA+ proteins; autobiography; hemoglobin allostery; hydrogen exchange; protein folding; protein machines.