Buffer exchange-atomic emission spectroscopy

Probing Nucleic Acid-Ion Interactions with Buffer Exchange-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy... 

The ion atmosphere of nucleic acids directly affects measured biochemical and biophysical properties. However, study of the ion atmosphere is difficult due to its diffuse and dynamic nature. Standard techniques available have significant limitations in sensitivity, specificity, and directness of the assays. Buffer exchange-atomic emission spectroscopy (BE-AES) was developed to overcome many of the limitations of previously available techniques. This technique can provide a complete accounting of all ions constituting the ionic atmosphere of a nucleic acid at thermodynamic equilibrium. Although initially developed for the study of the ion atmosphere of nucleic acids, BE-AES has also been applied to study site-bound ions in RNA and protein. 

To overcome the limitations of other techniques, buffer exchange-atomic emission spectroscopy (BE-AES) was created (Bai et al, 2007). Measurements of the ion atmosphere done with BE-AES provide a rigorous thermodynamic measure of the number of ions associated with a nucleic acid. BE-AES is sensitive to a wide number of elements and has proven to... 

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