Speaker: Yuri Gerelli, Institute for Complex Systems - CNR - Sapienza, Italy

Abstract: Biomembranes play a critical role in cellular function by separating the interior of cells and organelles from their environment. Understanding the properties and behavior of these membranes is essential for many fields, including biochemistry, biophysics, and drug discovery. Neutron reflectometry can be used to study the thickness and composition of the lipid bilayer, as well as the orientation and location of embedded proteins. This information can provide insights into the function of these membranes and how they interact with other molecules. In this seminar, we will discuss the basic principles of neutron reflectometry, the experimental setup required to perform these measurements, and the analysis techniques used to extract useful information from the data. The discussion will focus on the information that can be derived from NR experiments at different length scales, going from overall thickness and composition to the characterization of the internal structure of a biomembrane. Finally, as the systems nowadays investigated by NR are becoming more and more complex, we will discuss some of the different possible strategies for analysing NR data. In particular, the case of the interaction between a planar membrane with small peptides and nano-sized particles will be discussed. Overall, this seminar will provide attendees with a thorough understanding of the principles and applications of neutron reflectometry for the investigation of biomembranes as well as information on methods for the analysis of biomembrane systems of increasing complexity, such as multicomponent lipid membranes and biomembranes interacting with proteins and other macromolecules.