From: Greg Ralston <gregr@atp.biochem.su.oz.au>
  To  : demeler
  Date: Thu, 23 Jun 94 09:15:32 EST

Re: Aluminum center pieces

Hi Borries,

> I have a question regarding the use of aluminum center pieces:
> 
> From what I understand, al. centerpieces are very expensive and of 
> limited use because they are not coated/anodized etc.

They are VERY expensive! And they don't appear to be anodised.

> What buffers have shown to damage the cells, or should I better ask
> what buffers can be used?

We have used Al centerpieces with phosphate buffers, pH 7-7.5, for runs at 
60,000 rpm. There seems to be no systematic difference between these data and 
data obtained at 42,000 rpm with epon centerpieces. i.e., There was no 
indication of aggregation that might have been caused by spurious Al ion 
contamination.




Greg Ralston

Department of Biochemistry
University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW, 2006
Australia