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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Structural Studies of Macromolecules in Solution using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering
Published on: November 5, 2018
Probing the average local structure of biomolecules using small-angle scattering and scaling laws
Max C Watson1, Joseph E Curtis1
1NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Abstract:
Small-angle neutron and x-ray scattering have become invaluable tools for probing the nanostructure of molecules in solution. It was recently shown that the definite integral of the scattering profile exhibits a scaling (power-law) behavior with respect to molecular mass. We derive the origin of this relationship, and discuss how the integrated scattering profile can be used to identify differing levels of disorder over local ≲30 Å length scales. We apply our analysis to globular and intrinsically disordered proteins.
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