STABILIZATION OF LIPID BILAYERS ON SURFACES THROUGH CHARGED POLYMERS

ABSTRACT

It is our concept to use a polymer as a hydrophilic cushion to stabilize a lipid bilayer on a solid support. This can be accomplished by using polyacrylamides with disulfides and DMPE anchors as a hydrophilic cushion. These polymers have the additional functionalities to chemisorb on gold surfaces through the disulfides and to bind a lipid bilayer on it through the insertion of the lipid anchors into the lipid bilayer. This paper shows that a polymer with the additional functionality of charged groups increases the attraction of vesicles to form a tethered supported lipid bilayer. By varying the amount of charged groups in the polymer, we are able to control the hydrophilic behavior of the polymer and therefore are able to change the wetting on a surface. This was examined by measuring the contact angles. Using the technique of the surface plasmon spectroscopy, we are able to monitor the process of vesicle fusion on the polymer support.