Knowledge of physical properties of cellular membranes is important for two reasons. The first reason is that it provides a framework for description and understanding of a class of biological processes that constitute cell signaling. The second, and perhaps less obvious, is that membranes are materials with unique properties lending themselves to interesting and promising applications in material engineering. This class gives a brief overview of cell membrane processes followed by a detailed description of experimental and theoretical methods currently used for measuring membrane structure and dynamics. The focus will be on small-angle scattering, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations. Students will learn how to analyze experimental data for a selection of membrane systems.
- Teacher: Daniel Harries
- Teacher: Horia Petrache