Pressure effects on lipids and bio-membrane assemblies

Membranes are amongst the most important biological structures; they maintain the fundamental integrity of cells, compartmentalize regions within them and play an active role in a wide range of cellular processes. Pressure can play a key role in probing the structure and dynamics of membrane assembl...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nicholas J. Brooks
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Union of Crystallography 2014-11-01
Series:IUCrJ
Subjects:
Online Access:http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2052252514019551
Description
Summary:Membranes are amongst the most important biological structures; they maintain the fundamental integrity of cells, compartmentalize regions within them and play an active role in a wide range of cellular processes. Pressure can play a key role in probing the structure and dynamics of membrane assemblies, and is also critical to the biology and adaptation of deep-sea organisms. This article presents an overview of the effect of pressure on the mesostructure of lipid membranes, bilayer organization and lipid–protein assemblies. It also summarizes recent developments in high-pressure structural instrumentation suitable for experiments on membranes.
ISSN:2052-2525