= Solution
In lane 3, detergent removes the <lipid bilayer> barrier while both partner preparations are present. Their binding regions can then encounter one another even if they originally faced inward or were on poorly apposed <lipid bilayers>. The strong remaining full-length signal is consistent with extensive formation of protected <SNARE complexes>.
Thus \b[detergent does not prevent partner association under the displayed conditions]; it removes the topological restriction on that association. This lane is the normalization reference, not a direct measurement that 100% of all initially supplied <protein> is active. The weak signal in the detergent-treated partner-free control also argues against detergent simply preventing all cleavage.
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