Artificial models of cell membrane attracts increasing attention because they can be used to study the interactions between a lipid bilayer, the protective envelope of cell membrane, and other small molecules involved in a variety of cellular processes, such as antimicrobial peptides and phospholipase enzyme. Two artificial models have been studied: supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), which are formed through vesicle fusion and electroformation, respectively.Antimicrobial peptides are involved in the defense system for most of organisms, including humans. These peptides attach onto cell surfaces, and further insert into the membrane, either forming pores or accumulating like a carpet, both of which will cause the cell death. Thus antimicrobial peptides have therapeutic potential as new antibiotics for bacteria that are resistant to common antibiotics. In this study, alamethicin is chosen, because it follows a typical barrel-stave model. Our QCM data shows that the SLBs can be disrupted by alamethicin at 50uM. This disruption is confirmed by confocal microscope using fluorescent lipids. To better understand the interaction between alamethicin and lipid bilayer, we use microfluidic devices to monitor the interaction between alamethicin and bilayer.

Field-directed observation of membrane dynamics using supported lipid bilayers

245th National Meeting (2013)

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