Abstract
A routine method for finding the best set of integral amino acid residue numbers in a pure protein is described. The method starts with the best physical estimate of the molecular weight of the protein, and the amino acid composition derived from a number of amino acid analyses. The number of residues of each amino acid ± its standard error is calculated for the given molecular weight. Simple statistical screening procedures are used to eliminate unreliable amino acids. The remaining ones are used in a least‐squares analysis developed from previous methods, to find the value of the molecular weight that gives the best fit to integral residue numbers. An estimate of the reliability of fit is also calculated. With the aid of a desktop computer the labour of finding the the best set of integers can be reduced to about 30 minutes' work. In addition an estimate of the confidence limits for each integer is provided. The use of the method is illustrated by reference to experimental results for bovine pancreatic ribonuclease, horse spleen apoferritin and E. coli citrate synthase.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
