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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

On-Chip Octanol-Assisted Liposome Assembly for Bioengineering
Published on: March 17, 2023
Ordered Lipid Domains Assemble via Concerted Recruitment of Constituents from Both Membrane Leaflets
Ali Saitov1, Sergey A Akimov2, Timur R Galimzyanov2
1Institute of Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Gruberstraße 40, Linz 4020, Austria.
Abstract:
Lipid rafts serve as anchoring platforms for membrane proteins. Thus far they escaped direct observation by light microscopy due to their small size. Here we used differently colored dyes as reporters for the registration of both ordered and disordered lipids from the two leaves of a freestanding bilayer. Photoswitchable lipids dissolved or reformed the domains. Measurements of domain mobility indicated the presence of 120 nm wide ordered and 40 nm wide disordered domains. These sizes are in line with the predicted roles of line tension and membrane undulation as driving forces for alignment.
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