Deutsche Neutronenstreutagung

After the licensing of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) comprising messenger RNA (mRNA) for vaccination against COVID-19, nanoparticles comprising mRNA for pharmaceutical application have been gaining increasing attention in the scientific community.

mRNA is a single stranded RNA, which is the template for the synthesis of proteins by the cell. For its use as the active ingredient in...

Neutrons, by virtue of their non-destructive non-ionising nature, can provide a statistical and 3-dimensional perspective on structure in a range of model and industrial systems. Dairy gels, where the formation of a network of casein micelles from milk forms a barrier to mass transport, are the basis of major class food products manufactured from. Herein we follow on from our previous work...

Amyloid β42 (Aβ42), a neurodegenerative peptide, undergoes various morphological changes in the pathway of forming plaques, a principal cause of Alzheimer's disease, and can alter the membrane integrity. Furthermore, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most widely prescribed for their anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic and antiplatelet characteristics. The influence...

Glycolipids are known to stabilize biomembrane multilayers through preferential sugar-sugar interactions that act as weak transient membrane cross-links. Here, in order to obtain structural insights into this phenomenon, we utilize neutron reflectometry in combination with a floating lipid bilayer architecture that brings two glycolipid-loaded lipid bilayers to close proximity. We find that...

Mucins are a family of water soluble, and heavily glycosylated, proteins which, as the major macromolecular constituent of mucous, have a general function in forming wet physiologically relevant chemical and physical barriers in animals.1 Apart from the ability to form limited cross-links, gelation behavior, an important structure motif is the bottle-brush structure formed by the pendant...