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Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy as a Unique Probe for Lipid Membrane Dynamics and Membrane-Protein Interactions
Published on: May 27, 2021
Structural insights on biologically relevant cationic membranes by ESR spectroscopy
Julio H K Rozenfeld1, Evandro L Duarte2, Tiago R Oliveira3
1Departamento de Biofísica, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, R. Botucatu 862, São Paulo, SP, 04023-062, Brazil.
Abstract:
Cationic bilayers have been used as models to study membrane fusion, templates for polymerization and deposition of materials, carriers of nucleic acids and hydrophobic drugs, microbicidal agents and vaccine adjuvants. The versatility of these membranes depends on their structure. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a powerful technique that employs hydrophobic spin labels to probe membrane structure and packing. The focus of this review is the extensive structural characterization of cationic membranes prepared with dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide or diC14-amidine to illustrate how ESR spectroscopy can provide important structural information on bilayer thermotropic behavior, gel and fluid phases, phase coexistence, presence of bilayer interdigitation, membrane fusion and interactions with other biologically relevant molecules.
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