AVS 54th International Symposium
    Understanding Biointerphases and Magnetism with Neutrons Topical Conference Tuesday Sessions
       Session NT-TuM

Invited Paper NT-TuM11
Roles of Carbohydrates in Fine Adjustment of Biological Interfaces

Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 11:20 am, Room 618

Session: Applications to Biological Materials and Soft Matter
Presenter: M. Tanaka, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Correspondent: Click to Email

In nature, cell-cell and cell-tissue contacts are madiated by various biopolymers based on carbohydrates. This paper describes some of our recent studies that physically model the active roles of carbohydrates in fine-adjustment of contacts at biological interfaces by specular and off-specular neutron scattering at defined relative humidity as well as in bulk water. The planar planar geometry of the biomembrane models containing oligo- and polysaccharides enable one to identify the in-plane and out-of-plane momentum transfers at various angles quantitatively, which can be used to determine the influence of carbohydrates on structural and mechanical properties of membranes.