Advances in contrast variation for macromolecular structure determination by polarized neutron scattering and anomalous dispersion of synchrotron X-rays

Contrast variation for macromolecular structure determination is usually achieved by isomorphous replacement of 1-H by 2-H (D) using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). This is particularly easy in aqueous solvents. By adding heavy water the contrast of dissolved proteins, nucleic acids and membranes changes drastically. It is the region inaccesible to solvent molecules, which acts as a label. Measurements of the scattering intensity at three different scattering densities of a solvent yields the three basic scattering functions. The contrast dependence of the radius of gyration receives particular interest. More recently smaller labels have been used. Their dimensions are smaller than t…