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Rapid estimation of length distributions of microtubule preparations by quasi‐elastic light scattering
Author(s) -
Hallett F. R.,
Keates R.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.360241216
Subject(s) - chemistry , autocorrelation , microtubule , scattering , light scattering , analytical chemistry (journal) , exponential function , molecular physics , optics , computational physics , chromatography , physics , statistics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
A new method for determining the length distribution of microtubule preparations, using quasi‐elastic light scattering (QELS) is described. The experimental electric field autocorrelation functions are analyzed using a closed‐form expression recently described by Hallett, Craig, and Nickel [(1985) Biopolymers 24 , 947–960], which is incorporated into an exponential sampling procedure. The resulting length distributions are compared with those obtained for the same samples with electron microscopy (EM). If standard grid‐preparation procedures were used, the EM results yielded shorter length distributions than QELS. When grids were prepared at lower microtubule number densities, less grid washing was required. In these cases, excellent agreement between the EM and QELS techniques were achieved.