Using magnetic reference layers to unravel the interaction of proteins with complex lipid bilayers

During a previous experiment (RB1710262), we investigated the structure of sponge-like nanoparticles (LNPs) deposited on a silica surface with and without Aspartic protease (Asp, 34KDa), which is a common food additive in cheese manufacturing. We showed that the structure deposited layer changed when the contrast was changed, and we could fit only data collected from a single contrast, which was not sufficient to properly characterize this system. Here we propose to use substrates including a magnetic reference layer composed of iron, with a thick silica cap to protect the metal from the water. The use of these magnetic substrates will enable us to collect polarized data on the LNP layer, without the need to change liquid contrast, while still getting sufficient data to determine the structure.