title: NMR elastometry of fluid membranes in the mesoscopic regime.
abstract: In solid-state 2H NMR of fluid lipid bilayers, quasielastic deformations at MHz frequencies are detected as a square-law dependence of the nuclear spin-lattice (R(1Z)) relaxation rates and order parameters (S(CD)). The signature square-law slope is found to decrease progressively with the mole fraction of cholesterol and with the acyl chain length, due to a stiffening of the membrane. The correspondence to thermal vesicle fluctuations and molecular dynamics simulations implies that a broad distribution of modes is present, ranging from the membrane size down to the molecular dimensions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Gary V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Emily M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Dykstra
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lope-Piedrafita
authors.forename: Constantin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Job
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D004134:Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine / Q000737:chemistry; D004548:Elasticity; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D004134:Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine