Supported lipid bilayers are important platforms for reconstituting membrane proteins' An ideal subs

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Polymer Cushions Functionalized with Lipid
Molecules Luping Yu, University of Chicago,
DMR-013915
Figure 1. Structures of functional polymers and
molecules for polymer cushion.
Supported lipid bilayers are important platforms
for reconstituting membrane proteins. An ideal
substrate is polymer cushion that is
functionalized with lipid molecules, where an
ultrathin (1-2 nm) water layer is trapped
between the hydrophilic support and the lower
leaflet of the bilayer. This trapped water layer
renders the bilayer mobile in spite of its
proximity to the solid substrate. A new polymer
cushion system was prepared via chemoselective
layer-by-layer immobilization of functional
polymers. The resulting phospholipid-terminated
polymer cushions can serve as a support for
stable, mobile lipid bilayers and may provide an
improved platform to study transmembrane
proteins.
Figure 2. Normalized fluorescence recovery rate
of lipid bilayers on lipidized polymer cushion.
Langmuir 2004, 20, 11297-11300