title: Revisiting the optimal c value for isothermal titration calorimetry.
abstract: The precision with which the dissociation constant, K(D), can be obtained from isothermal titration calorimetry depends on, among other factors, the concentrations of the interacting species. The so-called c value-the ratio of analyte concentration to K(D)-should fall in the range of 1 to 1000 for reliable K(D) determination. On the basis of simulated, noise-free data, Biswas and Tsodikov [5] recently suggested an optimal c value of 5 to 20. By contrast, we find an optimum at c > 40 on determining the K(D) confidence intervals through simulations containing noise levels typical of state-of-the-art microcalorimeters.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biophysics, University of Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Broecker
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keller
mesh_terms: D002151:Calorimetry / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D003198:Computer Simulation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011786:Quality Control; D013816:Thermodynamics