ABSTRACT
Supported lipid membranes can be produced by assembling a layer of closely packed hydrocarbon chains onto an underlying substrate, followed either by controlled dipping through an organic amphiphilic monolayer at an air-water interface or by exposure to a dilute solution of emulsified lipids or unilamellar lipid vesicles (1) (Fig. 1). In the process of membrane formation, the functional reconstitution of integral or membrane-anchored proteins can be readily achieved. As a consequence, supported lipid membranes have proven to be useful tools for characterizing both protein function and cell-cell interactions. Moreover, interest has been generated in the potential application of supported membranes as sensors or biofunctional coatings for artificial organs and other implanted medical devices (1, 2).
