查看文章

Analytical ultracentrifugation is one of the classical techniques for the study of protein interactions and protein self-association. Recent instrumental and computational developments have significantly enhanced this methodology. In this paper, new tools for the analysis of protein self-association by sedimentation velocity are developed, their statistical properties are examined, and considerations for optimal experimental design are discussed. A traditional strategy is the analysis of the isotherm of weight-average sedimentation coefficients s_w as a function of protein concentration. From theoretical considerations, it is shown that integration of any differential sedimentation coefficient distribution c(s), ls-g^*(s), or g(s^*) can give a thermodynamically well-defined isotherm, as long as it provides a good model for the sedimentation profiles. To test this condition for the g(s^*) distribution, a back-transform into the original data …