Polymer-tethered lipid bilayers comprised of phospholipids and precisely controlled concentrations of physisorbed lipopolymers represent an exciting model membrane platform characterized by tunable viscoelastic properties. Lipopolymers have been shown to act as diffusion obstacles that manifest as changes in bilayer fluidity. Additionally, experiments indicate that elevated lipopolymer densities result in biaxial stress leading to the formation of membrane buckling structures that can be linked to a membrane's elastic properties. Patterned model membrane architectures can be fabricated to exhibit stable lateral gradients in lipopolymer density or sharp boundaries between areas of high and low lipopolymer densities. Such patterns can be visualized and characterized on the basis of lipopolymer density-specific membrane buckling structures using epifluorescence and atomic force microscopy. The ability to precisely regulate mechanical attributes potentiates the use of these lipopolymer-lipid supramolecular assemblies for a range of applications, including cell substrates capable of exploring cellular mechano-sensing. Findings from such applications are discussed.

Tuning substrate viscoelasticity and patterning in polymer-tethered lipid bilayers

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.