Measuring molecular order for lipid membrane phase studies: Linear relationship between Laurdan generalized polarization and deuterium NMR order parameter

Two dimensional phase separation in lipid membranes and cell membranes is of interest to biology because of the idea of membrane rafts - compositionally heterogeneous liquid crystal domains with cellular functions. Few quantitative tools exist for characterizing and differentiating coexisting phases on a molecular scale. Lipid acyl chain order can be measured directly using deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2H NMR), or inferred...