Physisorbed polymer-tethered lipid bilayers comprised of phospholipids and lipopolymers represent highly versatile supramolecular assemblies of adjustable dynamic and mechanical properties. At low lipopolymer concentrations, these membrane systems are well-suited for the investigation of transmembrane proteins in well-defined lipid compositions using sensitive biophysical detection techniques. Polymer-tethered membranes also allow the controlled adjustment of bilayer diffusivity and membrane elasticity. On the basis of this attractive feature, we developed two types of biomembrane-mimicking cell substrates of tunable viscoelasticity. The first type enables control of substrate viscoelasticity by variation of lipopolymer concentration in a single polymer-tethered lipid bilayer. Such cell substrates are particularly interesting because they can be built with an elastic (lipopolymer) gradient. The second type of cell substrate is based on a polymer-tethered lipid multi-bilayer. Here modification of substrate viscoelasticity is achieved by altering the number of bilayers in the stack. Experiments on different mechano-sensitive cell lines are presented, which demonstrate the functionality of both types of biomembrane-mimicking cell substrates.

Transmembrane protein characterization and analysis of cellular mechano-sensing using polymer-tethered membrane architectures

247th National Meeting (2014)

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