J. Woenckhaus et al., High pressure-jump apparatus for kinetic studies of protein folding reactions using the small-angle synchrotron x-ray scattering technique, REV SCI INS, 71(10), 2000, pp. 3895-3899
An apparatus suitable for pressure-jump experiments with variable pressure
amplitude and a fast response time to facilitate time-resolved small-angle
x-ray scattering at synchrotron facilities is described. The high pressure-
jump apparatus is capable of performing bidirectional pressure jumps at a t
ime resolution as high as 5 ms. The high pressure sample cell presented has
flat diamond windows and is suited for pressures up to 0.7 GPa operating i
n the temperature range from -40 to 120 degrees C. The cell is designed for
investigating biological and other soft condensed matter materials. Modifi
cations on the window supports allow also simultaneous wide-angle x-ray sca
ttering data to be taken. We have used the equipment to study the kinetics
of protein folding reactions. The performance of the apparatus is demonstra
ted by presenting data on the pressure-induced un/refolding reaction of the
water-soluble protein SNase WT. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S
0034- 6748(00)04410-5].