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Macromolecular Interactions

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When studying macromolecular interactions in vivo, it is essential to use methods that rapidly ‘‘freeze’’ these interactions as well as prevent the re-assortment of protein and RNA components during cell lysis. Cross-linking agents have been exploited for this purpose. In particular, crosslinking agents that are reversible are the most useful because they simplify subsequent characterization of the interacting molecules. Cross-linking to stabilize RNA and protein complexes has proven to be a useful tool for site-specific interactions. Such linkages can generally be achieved by UV or chemical means (Pashev et al., 1991; Matsunaga et al., 2001). The interactions or mere proximity of macromolecules can be studied by the clever use of crosslinking

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