Interface Science of Biomolecular Materials

Interface Science of Biomolecular Materials
The cell membrane is a wonderfully complex structure having a phospholipids matrix with a wide variety of associated and integral membrane proteins. We are exploring highly simplified analogues of the cell membrane for possible applications in bioanalytical devices. Vesicles or liposomes of phospholipids are prepared by sonication or membrane extrusion and characterized by dynamic light scattering. The kinetics of adsorption of these vesicles on a solid substrate followed by fusion to form a continuous supported bilayer is followed by the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. This instrument allows determination of both the mass deposition as well as the viscoelastic coupling of the adsorbed film with the surrounding fluid. Fluorescence recovery after pattern photobleaching is used to monitor the lateral diffusivity of labeled lipids.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 7:28 pm and is filed under Interface Science, Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.