Page EF, Blake MJ, Foley GA, Calhoun TR. Monitoring membranes: The exploration of biological bilayers with second harmonic generation.
CHEMICAL PHYSICS REVIEWS 2022;
3:041307. [PMID:
36536669 PMCID:
PMC9756348 DOI:
10.1063/5.0120888]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Nature's seemingly controlled chaos in heterogeneous two-dimensional cell membranes stands in stark contrast to the precise, often homogeneous, environment in an experimentalist's flask or carefully designed material system. Yet cell membranes can play a direct role, or serve as inspiration, in all fields of biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Our understanding of these ubiquitous structures continues to evolve despite over a century of study largely driven by the application of new technologies. Here, we review the insight afforded by second harmonic generation (SHG), a nonlinear optical technique. From potential measurements to adsorption and diffusion on both model and living systems, SHG complements existing techniques while presenting a large exploratory space for new discoveries.
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