DTT and BME

[Greg Davis]

I have heard that DTT and BME are sometimes included in protein
preparations  to stabilize protein activity.  Since many proteins rely
on cysteine bonds to retain structure (hence activity), why are DTT and
BME helpful?

I would very much appreciate anyone's answer or speculation on this 
question.

Thanks,
Greg
gdavis at ou.edu
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Oklahoma