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.