Measuring the elastic properties of protein crystals by brillouin scattering

We report preliminary measurements of the elastic properties of tetragonal lysozyme crystals using Brillouin scattering. This microscopic, non-contact technique is ideally suited for study of fragile, optically transparent macromolecular crystals. Brillouin scattering should allow much more complete characterization of crystal elasticity, and provide a novel probe of intermolecular interactions, conformation changes, and defect formation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.