Methods, development and applications of small-angle X-ray scattering to characterize biological macromolecules in solution

Applications of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in structural biology are reviewed. A brief introduction of the SAXS basics is followed by the presentation of the structural features of biological macromolecules in solution that can be assessed by SAXS. The approaches are considered allowing one to obtain low resolution three-dimensional (3D) structural models and to describe assembly states and conformations. Metrics and descriptors required for the assessment of model quality are presented and recent biological applications of SAXS are shown.