Biophysical Approaches for the Study of Membrane Structure Part A

Book excerpt: Biophysical Approaches for the Study of Membrane Structure, Part A, Volume 700 explores lipid membrane asymmetry and lateral heterogeneity. A burst of recent research has shown that bilayers whose leaflets differ in their physical properties—such as composition, phase state, or lateral stress—exhibit many fascinating new characteristics, but also pose a host of new challenges related to their creation, characterization, simulation, and theoretical description. Chapters in this new release include Evaluation of functional transbilayer coupling in live cells by controlled lipid exchange and imaging FCS, Effects of lateral and hydrostatic pressure on membrane structure and properties, and much more.Other sections cover Using the yeast vacuole as a system to test the lipid drivers of membrane heterogeneity in living cells, Direct quantification of cellular membrane lipids using ratiometric fluorescence sensors, The spectral phasor approach to resolving membrane order with environmentally sensitive dyes, The use of hemifusion to create asymmetric giant unilamellar vesicles: Insights on induced order domains, Advanced microscopy methods to study membrane pores, Use of cryo-EM to study membrane phase separation, and much more. - Explore the state-of-the-art of lipid membrane asymmetry - Covers experimental, theoretical, and computational techniques to create and characterize asymmetric lipid membranes - Teaches how these kinds of approaches create and characterize laterally inhomogeneous membranes