Short summary for those who wish to use SAXS:

The resolution of SAXS is up to about 1.5 nm, the method can be used for macromolecules with MW from about 5 kDa up to 100 MDa.

One can study low resolution shape, quaternary structure, complex formation, add missing portions to high resolution models, analyze oligomeric mixtures and kinetic processes, and responses to changes conditions like pH, ionic strength, temperature etc.

For structure analysis (shape, quaternary structure), monodisperse samples are required. Monodispersity must be checked before doing SAXS by DLS, native gel, ultracentrifugation etc.

About 2-3 mg of purified material is needed for a complete study. The typical concentration range starts from about 0.5-1 mg/ml to about 10 mg/ml. At X33, the sample volume per measurement is currently about 60-70µl (manual filling) or 90-100µl (automated sample changer). We strongly recommend to use the automated mode.

Beamline automation: the sample changer presently allows for unattended measurements. Remote control is currently being tested and will be offered to the users in test mode as of summer 2009. For remote/Fedex operation, all samples must be fully prepared, without the necessity of dilutions or additions. More detailed instructions will be posted in due course.

If you are interested in a collaborative proposal, EMBL staff will be happy to help you not only with data collection and processing, but also with the interpretation and model building.

Apply for the SAXS beam time.

Learn more about data collection and processing.