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Small-Angle Neutron Scattering for Molecular Biology: Basics and Instrumentation

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Book cover Micro and Nano Technologies in Bioanalysis

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology™ ((MIMB,volume 544))

Summary

As researchers strive to understand the interplay between the complex molecular systems that make up living cells, tools for characterizing the interactions between the various players involved have developed. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) plays an important role in building a molecular-level understanding of the structures of macromolecular systems that make up cells. SANS is widely applicable to the study of biological structures including, but by no means limited to, protein–protein or protein–nucleic acid complexes, lipid membranes, cellular scaffolding, and amyloid plaques. Here, we present a brief description of the technique as it is commonly applied to the study of biological systems and an overview instrumentation that is available at the various facilities around the world.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Project KP1102010 of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy, under contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed and operated by UT-Batelle, LLC. The submitted manuscript has been authored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Structural Molecular Biology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 37831, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    William T. Heller

  2. Neutron Scattering Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Kenneth C. Littrell

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  1. William T. Heller
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  2. Kenneth C. Littrell
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Correspondence to William T. Heller .

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    © 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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    Heller, W.T., Littrell, K.C. (2009). Small-Angle Neutron Scattering for Molecular Biology: Basics and Instrumentation. In: Foote, R., Lee, J. (eds) Micro and Nano Technologies in Bioanalysis. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 544. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-483-4_19

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-483-4_19

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    • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

    • Print ISBN: 978-1-934115-40-4

    • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-483-4

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