Biomembrane Fabrication by the Solvent-assisted Lipid Bilayer (SALB) Method

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Materials Science
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) mimic cell membranes for in vitro studies.
• Conventional vesicle fusion (VF) method for SLB formation has limitations in lipid composition and support compatibility.
• Existing methods struggle with specific lipid compositions and solid supports.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce a novel, general procedure for fabricating supported lipid bilayers (SLBs).
• Overcome limitations of the vesicle fusion (VF) method for SLB formation.
• Demonstrate a versatile method applicable to various surfaces and lipid compositions.

Main Methods:

• Developed the solvent-assisted lipid bilayer (SALB) formation method.
• Utilized deposition of lipid molecules with water-miscible organic solvents followed by solvent exchange.
• Employed a flow-through configuration for real-time monitoring of SLB formation.

Main Results:

• SALB method successfully formed SLBs on hydrophilic surfaces, including those unsuitable for VF.
• Fabricated SLBs with lipid compositions not achievable via VF.
• Demonstrated SLB formation with high cholesterol fractions, showcasing versatility.
• Compared SALB and VF methods on silicon dioxide and gold surfaces.

Conclusions:

• The SALB method offers a general, one-step approach for SLB fabrication.
• SALB expands the utility of SLBs to a wider range of lipid compositions and solid supports.
• This technique is suitable for various surface-sensitive biosensing applications and biomembrane research.