ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Investigating the structure of the pulmonary lung surfactant at the air-water interface

Abstract: The lung surfactant is a film coating the alveolus of the lung. We want to characterize the structure of this film at the air-water interface at a molecular level. This will give us crucial information on the structural importance of the lung surfactant in a healthy lung. To do this characterisation we need to use neutron reflectometry for an unambiguous determination of the thickness of the film and how this changes with cholesterol and Ca2+ ions. We want to mimic the conditions in the lung by having a controlled humidity close to 100% at 37 °C. We want to follow the film formation over time and investigate the structural changes with repeating compression ¿ expansion cycles imitating the work of breathing. We want to do this study on both a clinical extract used to treat infants with respiratory distress syndrome and an extract of the endogenous lung surfactant of the new-born baby.

Principal Investigator: Professor Tommy Nylander
Experimenter: Professor Emma Sparr
Experimenter: Miss Jenny Andersson
Local Contact: Dr Maxmilian Skoda

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1510406

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1510406

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Tommy Nylander et al; (2015): Investigating the structure of the pulmonary lung surfactant at the air-water interface, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1510406

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.