Inkjet-Printed Phospholipid Bilayers on Titanium Oxide Surfaces: Towards Functional Membrane Biointerfaces.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Surface Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Solid-supported phospholipid bilayers are crucial for cell-responsive biointerfaces in medical implants and sensors.
• Fabricating lipid bilayers on titanium oxide and achieving precise patterning remain significant challenges.
• Existing bilayer printing methods have limitations in deposition control and patterning flexibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate direct deposition and patterning of covalently tethered lipid bilayer membranes on titanium oxide surfaces.
• To overcome limitations in current lipid bilayer fabrication and patterning techniques.
• To develop stable, functional biointerfaces for advanced biomedical applications.

Main Methods:

• Combined advances in lipid surface chemistry with on-demand inkjet printing.
• Utilized quartz crystal microbalance-dissipation (QCM-D) measurements to evaluate deposition conditions.
• Employed fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to assess bilayer functionality and mobility.

Main Results:

• Successfully printed stable, covalently tethered lipid bilayers on titanium oxide in ambient conditions without pretreatment.
• QCM-D measurements confirmed successful bilayer formation with characteristic frequency and dissipation shifts.
• Printed bilayers exhibited stability in air, retained function after dehydration/rehydration, and showed high lateral mobility (>1 µm²/s).

Conclusions:

• This work presents a novel capability for fabricating stable, patterned lipid bilayers on titanium oxide surfaces.
• The developed technique overcomes previous limitations in bilayer printing and patterning.
• The findings pave the way for creating advanced biointerfaces for implantable biomedical devices and sensor applications.