Abstract

Quasielastic light scattering spectroscopy (QLS) is an optical method for the determination of diffusion coefficients of particles in solution. Here we discuss the principles of QLS and explain how the distribution of particle sizes can be reconstructed from the measured correlation function of scattered light. Non-invasive observation of the temporal evolution of particle sizes provides a powerful tool for studying protein assembly. We illustrate practical applications of QLS with examples from studies of fibril formation of the amyloid β-protein.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, amyloid β-protein, aggregation, fibril formation, quasielastic light scattering, regularization, elongation, nucleation