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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 7: Posters I

BP 7.45: Poster

Monday, February 25, 2008, 17:00–19:30, Poster A

Micromachined apertures for x-ray structure analysis of free-standing lipid membranes — •André Beerlink and Tim Salditt — Institut für Röntgenphysik, Universität Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen

A wealth of functional and physiological properties of membranes has been derived from patch clamp and other electrophysiological methods carried out on small membrane patches. At the same time, a wealth of structural information of single and multi-component membranes has been provided by x-ray and neutron scattering techniques, mostly on isotropic suspensions or on planar model bilayers, composed of a controlled lipid/protein composition. The combination of functional and structural studies has to date been rarely achieved. We want to put forward a model system which well developed in membrane electrophysiology, but which was previously not amenable to structural studies, i.e. single freely suspended bilayers spanned in between two separate fluid compartments. To this end, stability and size of the freely suspended membranes must be addressed, and requires new technological tools of sample and aperture preparation. We propose an experimental setup allowing for freely suspended bilayers in aqueous solution spanning a controlled aperture between two compartments (differing in pH, ion concentrations etc.), and amenable to a collimated and focused synchrotron reflectivity experiment beam, as well as to a highly collimated and partially coherent beam for x-ray phase contrast imaging. Such a setup can open the door to a wide range of experiments, probing structure and conductivity simultaneously.