Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering Studies on Hydration Water in Phospholipid Membranes

Takeshi Yamada,Hideki Seto

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.00008

Abstract

The dynamic behavior of hydration water in phospholipid membranes has been investigated to understand the relationship between water and biological molecules using various experimental techniques. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) is an effective method for this purpose because the dynamic behaviors of both water and lipid molecules could be identified by using selective deuteration. In addition, the measurable ranges from the 10−12 to 10−9 s time scale and the 10−11 to 10−8 m length scale are suitable to investigate the slowing down of water molecules due to their interaction with lipid membranes. In this mini-review, QENS experiments on the dynamic behavior of hydration water molecules in neighboring phospholipid membranes are summarized.

Highlights

The dynamic behavior of hydration water in phospholipid membranes has been investigated to understand the relationship between water and biological molecules using various experimental techniques
Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the hydration force and dynamic behavior of water molecules between lipid bilayers depend on the water structure (Marrink et al, 1993)
Femtosecond mid-IR pumpprobe spectroscopy verified that the structure and dynamics of water between 1,2-dimyristyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) membranes varied with the phase transition of the DMPC bilayer from the gel phase to the liquid crystalline phase (Kundu et al, 2016)