Microassay thermal denaturation of ribonuclease A probed by CD spectroscopy

Circular dichroism (CD) is a useful technique to measure and analyze secondary structure and the thermal denaturation of proteins and nucleic acids in the far-UV region. Typically, a 1 mm pathlength rectangular cell is used for these measurements. However, this requires a sample volume of about 200 uL. In the case of samples where only very small volumes are available, JASCO now offers a new capillary cell for sample volumes smaller than 10 uL. The capillary cell also has a jacket for thermal ramping measurements. CD measurements remain simple to perform and the capillary cells are inexpensive and disposable.

This application note demonstrates the use of a capillary cell and jacket for thermal ramping studies of ribonuclease A.