Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 50: Poster Session "Biological Physics"

AKB 50.121: Poster

Friday, March 12, 2004, 10:30–13:00, B

Hydration limits of synthetic glycolipids under controlled osmotic pressure - a small angle neutron scattering (SANS) study — •Florian Rehfeldt¹, Bruno Demé², Christian Gege³, Richard R. Schmidt³, and Motomu Tanaka¹ — ¹Lehrstuhl für Biophysik E22, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany — ²Institut Laue-Langevin, BP 156, F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 09, France — ³Fachbereich Chemie, Universität Konstanz, Fach M-725, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany

In animal cells, oligo- and polysaccharide chains form complexes with glycolipids, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans (called glycocalix), and are mostly expressed on cellular surfaces. Complex interplays of various physical forces (electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, etc.) enable them to keep distinct conformation to serve not only as a hydrophilic cushion to maintain intercellular spacing but also as a selective ligand against complimentary receptors. To date, however, only a few studies have been conducted to clarify the impact of molecular structures on their in-plane and inter-plane correlation. In this study we investigated the hydration limits and morphology of synthetic glycolipids under controlled osmotic pressure. Multilayers of synthetic deuterated and protonated glycolipids with different sugar head groups were deposited on silicon wafers by solvent casting, and the quantative force-distance relationships were measured in a humidity chamber using small angle neutron scattering (SANS).