Ion-conformational interaction and charge transport through channels of biological membranes

1993 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri B. Gaididei
Author(s):  
S.W. Hui ◽  
D.F. Parsons

The development of the hydration stages for electron microscopes has opened up the application of electron diffraction in the study of biological membranes. Membrane specimen can now be observed without the artifacts introduced during drying, fixation and staining. The advantages of the electron diffraction technique, such as the abilities to observe small areas and thin specimens, to image and to screen impurities, to vary the camera length, and to reduce data collection time are fully utilized. Here we report our pioneering work in this area.


Author(s):  
Neng-Bo He ◽  
S.W. Hui

Monolayers and planar "black" lipid membranes have been widely used as models for studying the structure and properties of biological membranes. Because of the lack of a suitable method to prepare these membranes for electron microscopic observation, their ultrastructure is so far not well understood. A method of forming molecular bilayers over the holes of fine mesh grids was developed by Hui et al. to study hydrated and unsupported lipid bilayers by electron diffraction, and to image phase separated domains by diffraction contrast. We now adapted the method of Pattus et al. of spreading biological membranes vesicles on the air-water interfaces to reconstitute biological membranes into unsupported planar films for electron microscopic study. hemoglobin-free human erythrocyte membrane stroma was prepared by hemolysis. The membranes were spreaded at 20°C on balanced salt solution in a Langmuir trough until a surface pressure of 20 dyne/cm was reached. The surface film was repeatedly washed by passing to adjacent troughs over shallow partitions (fig. 1).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Park ◽  
Brianna Collins ◽  
Lucy Darago ◽  
Tomce Runcevski ◽  
Michael Aubrey ◽  
...  

<b>Materials that combine magnetic order with other desirable physical attributes offer to revolutionize our energy landscape. Indeed, such materials could find transformative applications in spintronics, quantum sensing, low-density magnets, and gas separations. As a result, efforts to design multifunctional magnetic materials have recently moved beyond traditional solid-state materials to metal–organic solids. Among these, metal–organic frameworks in particular bear structures that offer intrinsic porosity, vast chemical and structural programmability, and tunability of electronic properties. Nevertheless, magnetic order within metal–organic frameworks has generally been limited to low temperatures, owing largely to challenges in creating strong magnetic exchange in extended metal–organic solids. Here, we employ the phenomenon of itinerant ferromagnetism to realize magnetic ordering at <i>T</i><sub>C</sub> = 225 K in a mixed-valence chromium(II/III) triazolate compound, representing the highest ferromagnetic ordering temperature yet observed in a metal–organic framework. The itinerant ferromagnetism is shown to proceed via a double-exchange mechanism, the first such observation in any metal–organic material. Critically, this mechanism results in variable-temperature conductivity with barrierless charge transport below <i>T</i><sub>C</sub> and a large negative magnetoresistance of 23% at 5 K. These observations suggest applications for double-exchange-based coordination solids in the emergent fields of magnetoelectrics and spintronics. Taken together, the insights gleaned from these results are expected to provide a blueprint for the design and synthesis of porous materials with synergistic high-temperature magnetic and charge transport properties. </b>


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