Work

Microcontact Printing for Creation of Patterned Lipid Bilayers on Tetraethylene Glycol Self-Assembled Monolayers

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) formed on many different substrates have been widely used in the study of lipid bilayers. However, most SLBs suffer from inhomogeneities due to interactions between the lipid bilayer and the substrate. In order to avoid this problem, we have used microcontact printing to create patterned SLBs on top of ethylene-glycol-terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Glycol-terminated SAMs have previously been shown to resist absorbance of biomolecules including lipid vesicles. In our system, patterned lipid bilayer regions are separated by lipid monolayers, which form over the patterned hexadecanethiol portions of the surface. Furthermore, we demonstrate that α-hemolysin, a large transmembrane protein, inserts preferentially into the lipid bilayer regions of the substrate.

Source: Langmuir

DOI: 10.1021/la201839w

Authors: Matthew K. Strulson, Joshua A. Maurer

Institution: Washington University in St. Louis

Language: English

Topic: Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health

Awards: G2187266491, Unraveling Development: New Materials for Understanding Neuronal Wiring, G8230555968