Model cell membranes: Techniques to form complex biomimetic supported lipid bilayers via vesicle fusion.

ABSTRACT: Vesicle fusion has long provided an easy and reliable method to form supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) from simple, zwitterionic vesicles on siliceous substrates. However, for complex compositions, such as vesicles with high cholesterol content and multiple lipid types, the energy barrier for the vesicle-to-bilayer transition is increased or the required vesicle-vesicle and vesicle-substrate interactions are insufficient for vesicle fusion. Thus, for vesicle compositions that more accurately mimic native membranes, vesicle fusion often fails to form SLBs. In this paper, we review three approaches to overcome these barriers to form complex, biomimetic SLBs via vesicle fusion: (i) optimization of experimental conditions (e.g., temperature, buffer ionic strength, osmotic stress, cation valency,

SUBMITTER: Hardy GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3767439 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature