CBE Seminar Series: Tonya Kuhl

Description

Novel X-ray Scattering Studies Reveal Biomembrane Organization and Responsiveness

Abstract: Over the past several decades, supported lipid membranes have been used as model systems of cellular membranes, to investigate various membrane interactions, and as platforms for development of bio-sensors. Precise structural characterization by x-ray reflectivity and grazing incidence diffraction at the solid-liquid interface offers a wealth of insight into membrane organization, self-assembly, and domain formation as well as how membranes respond to changes in their environment. In this talk I will discuss some recent advances in our understanding of these responsive 2D films including; (1) high resolution structural measurements that reveal leaflet coupling in membranes, (2) a novel, “textured” lipid phase induced by specific-multivalent protein binding to membrane embedded receptors, and (3) very recent studies that clearly establish stoichiometric cholesterol-lipid complex formation that occurs in lipid bilayers but not in the lipid monolayers.

Biography: Tonya Kuhl, is a Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering, and a faculty member of the Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis. A chemical engineer by training, Tonya’s research interests are in the general area of colloidal science and self-assembly. Her group combines high resolution force spectroscopy with x-ray and neutron scattering techniques to understand and design the properties and structure of interfaces and thin-films.