Abstract Title

Planar Bilayer Lipid Membranes: Preparation and Biophysical Characterization

Additional Funding Sources

The project described was supported by the Pacific Northwest Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation through the National Science Foundation under Award No. HRD-1410465.

Abstract

Investigating the properties of a bilayer lipid membrane and using those investigations for scientific and biomedical purposes is made possible by the ability to create an artificial lipid membrane from individual elements. When artificially created, planar bilayer membranes replicate the lipid partition of natural cell membranes. Similar to the natural cell, they can also reconstruct their own replica of other cell components, like the transporter. For the project, we aimed to characterize planar bilayer lipid membranes. An electric spark created a small hole in a piece of thin Teflon film, the material used to separate two electrolyte reservoirs. Embedded in the reservoirs were two Ag/AgCl electrodes connected to an electrophysiology amplifier. A mixture composed of lipids and organic solvent was painted over the opening in the piece of film. Theoretical models were referenced in this experiment to describe the membrane as a capacitator, and found that capacitance measurements could be used to predict membrane thickness along with the development of the bilayer lipid structure. Conductance values were found to predict the quality of the lipid membrane, some more permeable than others. By inserting large conductance protein channels into the target membrane, we were able to exhibit the suitability of the membrane for recreation of transmembrane transporters.

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Planar Bilayer Lipid Membranes: Preparation and Biophysical Characterization

Investigating the properties of a bilayer lipid membrane and using those investigations for scientific and biomedical purposes is made possible by the ability to create an artificial lipid membrane from individual elements. When artificially created, planar bilayer membranes replicate the lipid partition of natural cell membranes. Similar to the natural cell, they can also reconstruct their own replica of other cell components, like the transporter. For the project, we aimed to characterize planar bilayer lipid membranes. An electric spark created a small hole in a piece of thin Teflon film, the material used to separate two electrolyte reservoirs. Embedded in the reservoirs were two Ag/AgCl electrodes connected to an electrophysiology amplifier. A mixture composed of lipids and organic solvent was painted over the opening in the piece of film. Theoretical models were referenced in this experiment to describe the membrane as a capacitator, and found that capacitance measurements could be used to predict membrane thickness along with the development of the bilayer lipid structure. Conductance values were found to predict the quality of the lipid membrane, some more permeable than others. By inserting large conductance protein channels into the target membrane, we were able to exhibit the suitability of the membrane for recreation of transmembrane transporters.