Analytical Ultracentrifuges

Beckman Coulter analytical ultracentrifugation is the most versatile, rigorous and accurate means for determining the molecular weight, hydrodynamic and thermodynamic properties of a protein or other macromolecule. It can be used to investigate nearly any type of molecule or particle over a wide range of concentrations and in a diverse variety of solvents. Currently, there is no other technique capable of providing the same range of information with a comparable level of precision and accuracy. In contrast to other methods used to analyze macromolecules, analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) enables characterization of samples in their native state under biologically relevant solution conditions. AUC gives researchers two complementary views of solution behavior. Sedimentation velocity provides first-principle, hydrodynamic information about the size and shape of molecules. Sedimentation equilibrium provides the same type of information about the solution molar masses, stoichiometries, association constants and solution nonideality.