Seminars Archive

X-Ray and Neutron Scattering from Lipid Multibilayers Aligned on Solid Supports

Abstract
Over the years, the use of aligned lipid/water systems has allowed us to gain new insights into their adopted morphologies and the various physical phenomena they exhibit. Possibly, the most common method of aligning lipid multibilayers is to deposit them from a concentrated lipid/solvent solution onto a solid support of either glass or single crystal silicon, and subsequently hydrate from a water-saturated atmosphere. Until a few years ago, the end result, compared to their liposomal counterparts in contact with liquid water, was multibilayers with reduced levels of hydration. Since then, this problem of not being able to fully hydrate multibilayer stacks on solid supports has been overcome [J. Katsaras, Biophys. J. 75, 2157 (1998)] permitting us to venture into new areas of study. This talk will deal with fully hydrated systems that we have examined in recent years using both neutron and x-ray scattering.