Probing the microstructure of biomaterials with positrons
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Aalto-yliopiston teknillinen korkeakoulu |
Doctoral thesis (article-based)
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Authors
Date
2010
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
Verkkokirja (879 KB, 72 s.)
Series
TKK dissertations,
239
Abstract
Voids in biological membranes are vital to the diffusion characteristics of the membranes and as such information gained from e.g. void sizes elucidates the understanding of the functionality of the membrane. In this thesis the focus is on lipid bilayers, a type of membrane that exists in almost all organisms as a diffusion barrier surrounding the cells. The lipid bilayer consists of hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts that can form the bilayer structure in aqueous solution and the structural properties of the inner core of the bilayer (aka. hydrocarbon tail area) have a strong effect on the diffusion of particles through the bilayer. One of the key elements in the bilayer structure is the distribution and size of the free volume pockets, voids. The size of the voids depend both on the lipid type, but as well as the structural parameters of the bilayer, so called phase behaviour of the bilayer structure. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy is a widely used tool to characterize atomic-scale structural properties of both solid state and soft matter and as such the correlation with positron (or to be specific positronium, the bound state of positron and electron) lifetime and the size of voids in e.g. polymers has been observed. In this thesis positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy has been applied to probe the voids in lipid bilayers in several manners: Firstly as a proof-of-concept-type of experiment reveals the feasibility of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy as a tool to detect subtle differences in the void sizes depending on the lipid concentration in aqueous solution, secondly it is found possible to characterize the phase transition temperature by observing the change of void sizes below and above the phase transition temperature. In addition, the effect of dopants, namely cholesterol, on the bilayer structure is studied as a function of cholesterol concentration. The feasibility of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy to study intact tissues in-situ is also presented in a study where the temperature-induced structural transition of mammalian lens is observed and traced down to the lipids the lens strongly consists of.Description
Supervising professor
Puska, Martti, Prof.Thesis advisor
Tuomisto, Filip, Prof.Keywords
positron lifetime, lipid bilayer, positronium, voids
Other note
Parts
- [Publication 1]: Petri Sane, Simo Kilpeläinen, and Filip Tuomisto. 2009. 4-channel digital positron lifetime spectrometer for studying biological samples. Materials Science Forum, volume 607, pages 254-256.
- [Publication 2]: Petri Sane, Emppu Salonen, Emma Falck, Jarmila Repakova, Filip Tuomisto, Juha M. Holopainen, and Ilpo Vattulainen. 2009. Probing biomembranes with positrons. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, volume 113, number 7, pages 1810-1812.
- [Publication 3]: Petri Sane, Filip Tuomisto, Susanne K. Wiedmer, Tuula Nyman, Ilpo Vattulainen, and Juha M. Holopainen. 2010. Temperature-induced structural transition in-situ in porcine lens – Changes observed in void size distribution. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, volume 1798, number 5, pages 958-965.
- [Publication 4]: P. Sane, F. Tuomisto, and J. M. Holopainen. Void volume variations in contact lens polymers. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, in press. doi:10.1016/j.clae.2010.06.008.