Measurement of Globular Protein Molecules by Electron Microscopy

A series of molecular species with approximately spherical shape and with molecular weights between 35,000 and 250,000 were shadowed with platinum while resting on a cleaved mica surface. They were backed, stripped from the surface, and examined by electron microscopy. Materials examined were: pepsin, liver alcohol dehydrogenase, yeast alcohol dehydrogenase, glutamic dehydrogenase, polyhedral virus protein (insect), fibrinogen substructure, alkaline phosphatase, and microsomal particles from Escherichia coli. Measurements were made of widths perpendicular to the shadowing direction and heights were deduced from shadow lengths. For those molecular species with well established molecular weights the average heights correlate very well with the diameter of the theoretical sphere but the average widths are too great by 50 to 80 A due to the lateral growth of the deposited metal. Although the distortion in shape of shadowed particles is relatively large, with standardized conditions for shadowing, it is possible to make allowance for the distortion and to obtain reasonably reliable estimates of the dimensions of spherical organic particles down to a molecular weight of about 35,000.