We prepared highly oriented, multi-lamellar stacks of human red blood cell (RBC) membranes applied on silicon wafers. RBC ghosts were prepared by hemolysis and applied onto functionalized silicon chips and annealed into multi-lamellar RBC membranes. High resolution X-ray diffraction was used to determine the molecular structure of the stacked membranes. Our results further support current models of RBC membranes as patchy structures and provide unprecedented structural details of the molecular organization in the different domains.
Impact
Our findings present a new route to determine molecular level information of red blood cell membranes important for diagnosis and treatment of patients. The outcome can also be used to fabricate smart nanosensors.
Student Experience
Several graduate and undergraduate are involved in this research project.
Countries
Canada, Germany
Impact
Research, Education
Institutional Partner(s)
Christian Wagner, Department of Experimental Physics, Saarland University, Germany, Lars Kaestner, Research Center for Molecular Imaging and Screening, Saarland University
