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Floating lipid bilayers: models for physics and biology

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Abstract

Progress in the determination of structure and fluctuation spectrum of a floating bilayer system, as well as potential applications for biological studies, is reviewed. The system described here was first introduced by Charitat et al. (Eur Phys J B 8:583–593, 1999) and consists of a planar bilayer floating at 2–3 nm away from an adsorbed one on a solid surface in contact with bulk water. This model has been widely used for surface scattering studies using both neutrons and synchrotron radiation and its use in studies of relevance for physics and biology research areas will be described, together with the progress towards the production of complex biomimetic samples for use with scattering techniques.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the colleagues involved in the work reported here and object of numerous publications, the Institut Laue-Langevin, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the Partnership for Soft Condensed Matter (PSCM) where most of the work was produced.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Laue-Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156, 38042, Grenoble Cedex 9, France

    Giovanna Fragneto

  2. Institut Charles Sadron, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, 23 Rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034, Strasbourg Cedex 2, France

    Thierry Charitat

  3. Synchrotron Soleil, L’Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, BP 48, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

    Jean Daillant

Authors
  1. Giovanna Fragneto
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  2. Thierry Charitat
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  3. Jean Daillant
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanna Fragneto.

Additional information

Special Issue: Scattering techniques in biology—Marking the contributions to the field from Peter Laggner on the occasion of his 68th birthday.

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Fragneto, G., Charitat, T. & Daillant, J. Floating lipid bilayers: models for physics and biology. Eur Biophys J 41, 863–874 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-012-0834-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-012-0834-4

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