The Detection and Characterization of Membrane Domains by SANS

J. Pencer CNBC, Chalk River National Laboratory, NRC - Canada

Recently, there has been great interest in and work devoted to understanding the mechanisms driving lateral organization in both cell and model membranes, driven by the implied roles of membrane domains in a variety of biological processes. Studies on both model and cell membranes demonstrate that domains can be formed over a wide range of length scales, as small as nanometers in diameter up to microns. However, while the size and shape of micron-sized domains are readily visualized in freely suspended vesicles, by techniques such as fluorescence microscopy, imaging of nanometer-sized domains has thus far been performed only on substrate-supported membranes (via, e.g. AFM), while additional evidence for nanodomains has depended on indirect detection (via, e.g. NMR or FRET).

We have recently demonstrated the efficacy of SANS to detect and characterize nanodomains in freely suspended mixed lipid vesicles. We have also applied the technique to a number of problems, including the influence of membrane composition, temperature and protein binding, on membrane organization. We will discuss these results, along with ongoing related studies.

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