title: Viewing the bilayer hydrocarbon core using neutron diffraction.
abstract: Membrane proteins fold, assemble and function within their native fluid lipid environment. Structural studies of fluid lipid bilayers are thus critically important for understanding processes in membranes. Here, we propose a simple approach to visualize the hydrocarbon core using neutron diffraction and deuterated lipids that are commercially available. This method should have broad utility in structural studies of the bilayer response to protein insertion and folding in membranes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kalina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hristova
mesh_terms: D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D033363:Neutron Diffraction / Q000379:methods*; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; C028694:1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine