Applications and Complementarity of Analytical Ultracentrifugation and Light‐Scattering Techniques

Hydrodynamic and light-scattering methods have the power to determine essential information about macromolecules. Among these methods, analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and static light scattering (SLS) are commonly employed by the modern solution biophysicist. In AUC experiments, a solution of a macromolecule is subjected to a centrifugal field, and modern analysis of the data yields size, shape and molar-mass information. In DLS and SLS experiments, the solution is illuminated with laser light, and the variations and intensity of the scattered light reveal information on monodispersity, the translational diffusion coefficient and molar mass. In this chapter, AUC, DLS and SLS are applied to two experimental systems. In some cases, the methods yield similar results, but the opportunities for synergistic application of the techniques will be pointed out and exploited. Finally, the possibility of using these technologies for the characterisation of thermodynamic properties of macromolecular interactions is introduced.