Neutron diffraction studies of biological membranes and membrane components

Abstract

In this paper the methods and techniques of neutron diffraction studies of biological membranes and membrane components have been described and demonstrated. Foremost among these are the methods of deuterium exchange and deuterium labeling, since they can directly provide locations of membrane components. In addition, the methods of contrast variation with H2O-D2O mixtures, swelling, direct scaling of data from deuterium-labeled structures, and magnetic orientation have provided useful information in neutron diffraction analyses of membrane structures. Although this field is only in its infancy, it clearly has very encouraging prospects.