Phospholipid bilayers spontaneously spread on a hydrophilic surface such as glass in aqueous solution. This process (self-spreading) was utilized to form a continuous and fluid lipid bilayer in the scaffold of patterned polymeric lipid bilayer. From a stamped reservoir of natural phospholipid, bilayers spread into the voids between patterned polymeric bilayers. A double logarithmic plot of the spreading velocity versus time was fitted with the slope of -0.5, as theoretically predicted. Preformed polymeric bilayer accelerated the spreading of fluid bilayer due to its hydrophobic edges. On the other hand, if the polymeric bilayers were present as nanometer-scale domains, spreading was obstructed by the domains, and the spreading velocity linearly decreased with the polymer fraction, reaching the percolation threshold. Self-spread lipid bilayers had a higher density of lipids than those formed by the spontaneous rupture and spreading of vesicles (vesicle fusion), as determined by the fluorescence intensity of laurdan. Detergent-solubilized rhodopsin from bull frog could be reconstituted into the self-spread membrane. Preparation of supported membranes by the self-spreading provides several advantages compared with those formed by the vesicle fusion. First, self-spread bilayers have higher packing of lipid molecules, since lipids are continually supplied from the reservoir. It should lead to a lower susceptibility to defects formation upon membrane protein reconstitution using detergents. Second, lipid reservoirs can be kept in a dried state until use, which enables a multiplex array of printed lipid membranes to be stored and used onsite.

Self-spreading of a phospholipid bilayer in the scaffold of polymerized lipid bilayer

2019 Spring National Meeting

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