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Calcium-Binding Protein Protocols Calcium-Binding Protein Protocols

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156 Trewhella and Krueger<br />

concentration independent or show evidence of suppression of the lowest-Q data<br />

because of interparticle interference (see Subheading 3.3.). This suppression<br />

leads to increasingly underestimated structural parameters with increasing concentration.<br />

If the concentration dependence of the structural parameters goes in<br />

the opposite direction (i.e., increasing structural parameters with increasing concentration),<br />

then it is evidence for concentration-dependent aggregation, and<br />

extrapolation of the data to infinite dilution is unlikely to yield the true structural<br />

parameters of the monomeric protein.<br />

The best guard against being misled by aggregation is to place the scattering<br />

data on an absolute scale in order to obtain an accurate measure of the molecular<br />

weight of the scattering particle (29). Alternatively, the forward scattering from<br />

the protein of interest can be calibrated using a standard protein known to be<br />

monodisperse. A good protein standard is one that has a molecular weight close<br />

to the value of the protein you wish to study, and whose concentration can<br />

be accurately determined. A protein with a well-determined UV extinction coefficient<br />

can be a good choice. Apoferritin has been used as a standard, as has<br />

lysozyme (5). However, many proteins are not suitable for use as a standard at<br />

synchrotron intensities because of radiation induced aggregation and standards<br />

must be reevaluated for each new instrument.<br />

2. Hydration layer effects: Macromolecules in aqueous solution have water molecules<br />

at their surfaces that can form a “hydration layer” with a mean scattering<br />

density that is different from that of the bulk solvent. In terms of the scattering<br />

experiment, the protein solution then becomes a three component system (protein,<br />

hydration layer, bulk solvent; 28). The effect of the hydration layer is to give<br />

a scattering pattern the yields structural parameters that are larger than for<br />

the protein by itself. The size of the hydration layer effect depends upon the<br />

charge on the protein surface and the ionic strength of the solution. For highly<br />

charged molecules, like DNA for example, the effects are significant. For close to<br />

neutral proteins in dilute buffered salt solutions (

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