Structural analysis of biomacromolecules using circular dichroism spectroscopy

The chirality of biomacromolecules renders circular dichroism (CD) detection a method to measure their multiscale structures. This chapter reviews the applications of CD spectroscopy in detecting the conformation of proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids. Basic knowledge of CD spectra of the three macromolecules has been introduced, and the influence of changes in environmental factors and chemical modification on the changes in CD spectra is extensively illustrated. CD spectroscopy has shown to be a convenient tool for calculating the secondary structures of proteins and detecting the conformation changes of polysaccharides and nucleic acids affected by environmental factors. In addition, the limitations of the CD technique are comparatively discussed, and perspectives on future trends are highlighted.