Light as a trigger for time-resolved structural experiments on muscle, lipids, p21 and bacteriorhodopsin

With the availability of synchrotron-radiation facilities, new approaches to time-resolved structural experiments in biology have been developed. The common feature of the experiments described is the use of powerful light sources to trigger structural transitions by flash photolysis, flash excitation or laser temperature jump. Special emphasis will be given to the selection criteria for a laser temperature jump system and to the performance of the selected erbium glass laser as a tool for rapid temperature jumps. Experiments are presented on the structure and kinetics of muscle contraction, lipid phase transition, Ha-ras p21 Laue crystallography and structural changes during the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin.