Fluorescence resonance energy transfer in studies of inter-chromophoric distances in biomolecules

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a technique widely used in studies of interchromophoric distances in biomolecules such as peptides, proteins and nucleic acids. FRET is especially useful in determination of conformational changes caused by a solvent, presence of denaturing agents, diffusion and other external factors. Precision of interchromophoric distances obtained using the FRET technique is comparable with that of low-resolution X-ray diffraction and NMR data. Comparison of FRET results with the crystal structure for several proteins is reviewed. Moreover, the effect of the orientation factor kappa(2) value on FRET results and determinants of kappa(2) are discussed.