Neutron diffraction from aligned stacks of lipid bilayers using the WAND instrument

Abstract

1 This article will form part of a virtual special issue on advanced neutron scattering instrumentation, marking the 50th anniversary of the journal.Neutron diffraction from aligned stacks of lipid bilayers is examined using the Wide-Angle Neutron Diffractometer (WAND), located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. Data were collected at different levels of hydration and neutron contrast by varying the relative humidity (RH) and H 2 O/D 2 O ratio from multi-bilayers of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine and sunflower phosphatidylcholine extract aligned on single-crystal silicon substrates. This work highlights the capabilites of a newly fabricated sample hydration cell, which allows the lipid bilayers to be hydrated with varying H/D ratios from the RH generated by saturated salt solutions, and also demonstrates WAND's capability as an instrument suitable for the study of aligned lipid multibilayers. research papers J. Appl. Cryst. (2018). 51, 235-241 Drew Marquardt et al. Aligned stacks of lipid bilayers 241

Real Space and Time Imaging of Collective Headgroup Dipole Motions in Zwitterionic Lipid Bilayers

“…Here, we developed an approach using the Van Hove correlation function in one, two, and three dimensions (1D, 2D, and 3D, respectively) to study the spatial and temporal correlations of zwitterionic PC headgroup dipoles. X-ray and neutron scattering techniques such as, diffraction have extensively been used to study the structural organization of lipids in biomembranes [38][39][40], including spatial lipid-lipid pair distribution functions and snapshot-like time evolution of their spatial correlations. Although useful, such information alone is insufficient for the understanding of collective dynamics and relaxation processes, which contain both spatial and temporal correlations.…”

Foreword to the special issue on advanced neutron scattering instrumentation

“…Finally, reflecting an increasing interest in neutron protein crystallography, Kurihara et al (2018) describe a new instrument for JPARC to address especially membrane proteins and protein complexes that have large molecular weights and large unit-cell volumes. Addressing a similar scientific theme, Marquardt et al (2018) describe the capabilities of a newly fabricated sample hydration cell, which allows for lipid bilayers to be hydrated with varying H/D ratios, as well as demonstrating ORNL's WAND instrument capability for the study of aligned lipid multibilayers.…”