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Updated: Apr 22, 2026

Assembly of Cell Mimicking Supported and Suspended Lipid Bilayer Models for the Study of Molecular Interactions
Published on: August 3, 2021
Phospholipid asymmetry in biomimetic vesicles alters membrane permeability
Paige Allard1,2, Alex R McDonald1,2, Kaitlyn Ramsay1,2
1Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. kelvira@uvic.ca.
None:
Artificial cell membranes are rarely able to capture a key structural component of biological cells, namely the asymmetric distribution of phospholipids in the inner and outer leaflets. Here we show a straightforward method for generating biomimetic asymmetric vesicles that mimic the composition of human red blood cells using a plug-and-play microfluidic device. Small molecule diffusion was compared between symmetric and asymmetric vesicles using quinine hemisulphate. Asymmetric vesicles showed an 85% lower permeability than symmetric vesicles, suggesting that asymmetry is an important, yet undervalued, consideration in the design of vesicles for a variety of applications from the fundamental study of drug-membrane interactions to the use of vesicles for drug delivery.
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