Unusual water molecules at surfactant, lipid, and protein interfaces.

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of water has captivated the interest of researchers for decades, motivated in large measure by the importance of these properties in biological systems at interfaces. However, techniques that can routinely deal with delicate, dynamic, and heterogenous natural systems, such as proteins embedded near or in lipid membranes, remains an area of active development. Magnetic Resonance (MR) experiments rely on resonance frequencies many orders of magnitude slower than those of, e.g., ultrafast laser experiments that have shown earlier promise for interrogating interfacial systems. Nonetheless, MR relaxometry techniques can still probe fast molecular dynamics in the frequency domain through a set of techniques known as relaxometry.