title: A miniaturized monolayer trough with variable surface area in the square-millimeter range.
abstract: A new simple concept for a miniaturized monolayer trough is described. The overall monolayer area in the expanded state is approximately 150 mm2 and can be reduced by a factor of 2. The surface area is a function of the shape of the meniscus formed by the subphase and is controlled by the amount of water in the monolayer trough. The controlled compression of monolayers to a desired area per molecule with simultaneous observation of the lateral distribution of fluorescently labeled molecules is shown. A biological reaction between a specific antibody and lipid anchored peptide demonstrates the feasibility of monolayer experiments, which require only very small quantities of substance (in the pmol range). This trough might also be a valuable tool for the 2D crystallization of proteins at lipid layers via specific binding sites such as metal chelators.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de chimie physique des polymères et membranes, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duschl
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boncheva
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D015060:1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine / Q000737:chemistry; D009327:4-Chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan / Q000737:chemistry; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000737:chemistry; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D014764:Viral Proteins; D015060:1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D009327:4-Chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan