New initiatives in biomembrane science and serial crystallography of small molecules, among others, will be developed at our new beamline. We are currently preparing a proposal to NSF for operations of these initiatives. We welcome brief descriptions of how these facilities will benefit your research program that can be used in our upcoming proposal.
Biomembranes Biomembrane capabilities on the new beamline will utilize solid-liquid interfaces to investigate lipid bilayers supported on solid substrates. X-ray surface scattering will be used to study biomembrane structure and bilayer lipid-protein interactions that include peripheral and integral membrane proteins (see Figure from Langmuir 2014, 30, 4784). Other experiments can be envisioned, including x-ray fluorescence nanoprobe studies of heterogeneities in biomembranes, and the use of small x-ray beams to study droplet interface bilayer systems. Please contact Wei Bu (weibu@uchicago.edu).
Serial Crystallography Reversible processes in single crystals have been studied at ChemMatCARS on the atomic or molecular scale by a pump-probe cycle with time-resolved techniques. However, irreversible processes cannot be cycled on the same crystal. We are developing small molecule serial crystallography in which a stream of small crystals, undergoing an irreversible process, pass through the X-ray beam (see Figure from Trends in Biochemical Sciences 2017, 42, 749). Adjusting the timing of the X-ray exposure to the synchronized initiation of the process yields a time-resolved, atomic-scale structural characterization of either reversible or irreversible processes. Please contact Yu-Sheng Chen (yushengchen@uchicago.edu).
