Life depends critically on interactions and signais of vanous kinds which are transmitted over interfaces. A biological cell membrane is the most important interface in nature. Cell membranes are composed of a fluid lip] bilayer and associated macromolecules such as protems or polysacchandes. The lateral and transverse asymmetry and heterogeneity maintains the physiological activity of biological membranes. The compositional complexity of natural cell membranes creates the need for development of their biomimetic models. in this talk the procedures of the preparation of a solid substrate supported model membranes are presented. Due to the presence of aligned dipoles and charges in lipxis and proteins, biological membranes are exposed to high electric fields, that determine the value of the membrane potential Deposition of a model membrane on an electrode surface allows probing the effects of the membrane any information about the structure of biomolecules present in the membrane assembly on an electrode surface In situ determination of structural changes occurring in ipics and proteins interacting with a membrane under controlled membrane potentials is possible when structure analyzing techniques are combined to electrochermstry Infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy is particularly attractive for such applications as it will be demonstrated on an example of recoverin binding to a model membrane of the outer segment of rod photoreceptor cells. Acylation is an important post4trensiatonal modification of cytoplasmic protems, facilitating their binding to cell membranes. Some acylated proteins experience a dynamic change in their threedimensional structure, which can be tnggered by factors like Ca2+ or guanosine-S’- tnphosphate and involves the movement of a myristoyl (or paimitoyl) chain. The neuronal calcium sensor protein recovenn is a prototype of this kind of myristoyl-switchemical protems. It has a covalently attached mynstoy! C14 0) group at the N-terminus. Mynstoylated and non-mynstoylated recoverins are used to determine the binding, conformaton and onentaton of helical proten fragments in a membrane associated state
About the speaker
7 Dr. izabella Brand Or,. Brand ts a researcher at the institute of Chemistry, School of Mathematics and Science, Carl von Ossietzky Universitat = Oldenburg in Germany. Electrochemistry aL <= 7) of modified electrode surfaces is the focal - point of her research. V1 ie
