Synonyms
Definition
The UV-visible absorption spectrum of a biomolecule is the combination of the electronic transitions of all of its component parts or chromophores. The spectrum thus depends on the electronic structures of its component parts, which in turn depend on their environment. Thus, e.g., the absorbance of a tryptophan chromophore that is buried in the hydrophobic core of the protein will be at least slightly different from that of an exposed tryptophan. Two particularly useful applications of UV absorption spectroscopy to probe structural changes are outlined below.
Macromolecule Condensation
Measuring a UV-visible spectrum with an absorption spectrometer may be used to follow the condensation of a macromolecule sample into particles, though what is actually being probed is scattering of the light rather than absorption. A monotonic increase in absorbance signal outside the absorption bands of the molecules being...
References
Marky LA, Breslauer KA (1987) Calculating thermodynamic data for transitions of any molecularity from equilibrium melting curves. Biopolymers 26:1601–1620
Meistermann I, Moreno V, Prieto MJ, Molderheim E, Sletten E, Khalid S, Rodger PM, Peberdy J, Isaac CJ, Rodger A, Hannon MJ (2002) Intramolecular DNA coiling mediated by metallo-supramolecular cylinders: differential binding of P and M helical enantiomers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:5069–5074
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA)
About this entry
Cite this entry
Rodger, A. (2018). Absorption Spectroscopy to Indicate Macromolecule Structural Changes. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_777-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_777-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences