Self-Spreading Method for Forming Lipid Bilayer on a Patterned Agarose Gel: Toward Precise Lipid Bilayer Patterning

Forming artificial cell membranes is a suitable strategy for studying drug responses of membrane proteins. In order to form lipid bilayer with both mechanical stability and membrane protein functions, hydrogel supported bilayer has attracted attentions. Combinational use of self-extraction method for lipid bilayer formation and agarose gel patterning should realize hydrogel-supported bilayer with any shape and large area. In this study, we aimed to form a lipid bilayer on a patterned agarose gel and to characterize the membrane. First, lipid mixture was attached on an agarose gel, and lipid layers spread on the gel surface. With fluorescent observation, it is suggested that thin lipid layer was formed on the agarose gel, and their distance-dependent changes in spreading velocity was consistent with that in lipid bilayer. Next, the lipid layer was characterized with fluorescence recovery after photo breaching experiment. As a result, it is indicated that lipid molecules in the lipid layer on the agarose showed lateral diffusion, a typical characteristic of lipid bilayer. Taken together, we confirmed that lipid bilayer can be formed on the patterned agarose gel with self-spreading method. The hydrogel-supported bilayer will be a suitable tool for drug discovery.