Effects of gemini surfactants on egg phosphatidylcholine bilayers in the fluid lamellar phase

The influence of 1,4-butanediamonium-N,N'-dialkyl-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl dibromides (CmA, m = 7-16 is the number of alkyl carbons) on the egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (EYPC) bilayer thickness and lipid surface area at the bilayer-aqueous phase interface is studied using X-ray diffraction on fluid lamellar CmA + EYPC + H2O phases as a function of CmA:EYPC and H2O:EYPC molar ratios and the alkyl chain length m. At the constant CmA:EYPC = 0.4 and H2O:EYPC = 18 molar ratios, the CmA induced bilayer thickness decrease shows a minimum and the lipid surface area increase a maximum at the alkyl chain length m = 9. The obtained results are discussed in the context of a structural perturbation model of the cut-off effect in biological potencies of surfactants which occurs when increasing the alkyl substituent chain length above the critical value.     

Displacement discontinuity method for modeling axisymmetric cracks in an elastic half-space

This paper describes a displacement discontinuity method for modeling axisymmetric cracks in an elastic half-space or full space. The formulation is based on hypersingular integral equations that relate displacement jumps and tractions along the crack. The integral kernels, which represent stress influence functions for ring dislocation dipoles, are derived from available axisymmetric dislocation solutions. The crack is discretized into constant-strength displacement discontinuity elements, where each element represents a slice of a cone. The influence integrals are evaluated using a combination of numerical integration and a recursive procedure that allows for explicit integration of hyper- and Cauchy singularities. The accuracy of the solution at the crack tip is ensured by adding corrective stresses across the tip element. The method is validated by a comparison with analytical and numerical reference solutions.     

Small-Angle Neutron Scattering at the Pulsed Reactor IBR-2: Current Status and Prospects

Crystallography Reports - Neutron diffraction studies on the small-angle neutron spectrometer YuMO (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna), based on the IBR-2 pulsed reactor, have been...     

Investigation of the interaction of dimethyl sulfoxide with lipid membranes by small-angle neutron scattering

The influence of dimethyl sulfoxide (CH₃)₂SO (DMSO) on the structure of membranes of 1,2-dimiristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) in an excess of a water-DMSO solvent is investigated over a wide range of DMSO molar concentrations 0.0 ≤ X _DMSO ≤ 1.0 at temperatures T = 12.5 and 55°C. The dependences of the repeat distance d of multilamellar membranes and the thickness d _b of single vesicles on the molar concentration X _DMSO in the L _β’ gel and L _α liquid-crystalline phases are determined by small-angle neutron scattering. The intermembrane distance d _s is determined from the repeat distance d and the membrane thickness d _b. It is shown that an increase in the molar concentration X _DMSO leads to a considerable decrease in the intermembrane distance and that, at X _DMSO = 0.4, the neighboring membranes are virtually in steric contact with each other. The use of the deuterated phospholipid (DMSO-D6) and the contrast variation method makes it possible, for the first time, to determine the number of DMSO molecules strongly bound to the membrane.     

Comparative analysis of sensory rhodopsin II structures in complex with a transducer and without it

Sensory rhodopsin II (NpSRII) is a heptahelical transmembrane protein containing the retinal chromophore. In complex with another membrane protein, i.e., NpHtrII transducer, NpSRII transmits a signal into a cell, initiating negative phototaxis of Natronobacterium pharaonis. In the absence of a transducer, rhodopsin II can work as a proton pump similar to bacteriorhodopsin. The main objective of this study is to comparatively analyze receptor structures in complex with the transducer and without it to understand the mechanism of the protein switching function. Diffraction data for sensory rhodopsin II crystals grown in the lipidic cubic phase were obtained at the synchrotron x-ray source. In this paper, we present a new NpSRII structure with a resolution of 2.1 Å and the results of a comparative analysis of the obtained NpSRII structure with our previously published data on the NpSRII/NpHtrII complex structure and with two NpSRII structures without a transducer, previously published in the literature.     

Structure of organosilicon dendrimers of higher generations

The structure of organosilicon dendrimers of the ninth generation with the four-functional core and butyl terminal groups has been studied by small-angle neutron scattering. It has been demonstrated that the dendrimers are monodisperse objects with an anisometric shape. The partial volume and the average scattering density have been determined using the contrast variation technique. It has been shown that the dendrimers under study are identical in overall sizes and scattering density distribution. It has been revealed that 20% of the overall volume of the dendrimer is accessible for the penetration of the solvent. The distribution of the scattering length density in the dendrimers has been simulated and reconstructed using the Monte Carlo method, and a change in the excluded volume for different contrasts has been revealed. The specific features of the spatial structure of organosilicon dendrimers of higher generations have been discussed.     

Erratum to: Small-Angle Neutron Scattering at the Pulsed Reactor IBR-2: Current Status and Prospects

Crystallography Reports - An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063774522070513     

Study of three-dimensionally ordered structures of intact mitochondria by small-angle neutron scattering

The ultrastructure of cristae of intact mitochondria, in which the activity of the oxidative phosphorylation system was retained, was investigated by small-angle neutron scattering. Osmotic swelling of organelles was found to cause ultrastructural rearrangements of the inner mitochondrial membrane in rat liver and heart mitochondria. This process was accompanied by the appearance of diffraction peaks indicative of the formation of ordered structures. The lamellar packing of the membranes in heart mitochondria, which is observed under normal conditions, was found to undergo a transition to a nonlamellar hexagonal packing, whose scattering curve shows two peaks with the scattering vectors characterized by a spacing ratio of 1:√3. The electron-microscopy results confirm the possibility of the formation of a hexagonal packing of the inner membrane in heart mitochondria.