Seminar LMGP - 27/03/2018 - Associate Prof. CHO Nam-Joon

Associate Prof. CHO Nam-Joon - Nanyang Technological University - Singapour

Abstract :
Controlled self-assembly of model lipid membranes at interfaces has important applications for biotechnology and nanomedicine. Recently, we developed the solvent-assisted lipid bilayer (SALB) method to form planar lipid bilayers at interfaces. A key feature of the SALB method is that the supported bilayers form in an energetically favored scenario. Moreover, the process does not require pre-formed precursor vesicles allowing for arbitrary compositions. Aided by lipid-substrate interactions, surface-adsorbed lipids in organic solvent are rapidly converted into lamellar phase, supported bilayer islands upon addition of aqueous buffer solution. Lipid species in the aqueous solution may attach to the bilayer islands and subsequently rupture to form a contiguous, supported lipid bilayer. Owing to the technically minimal requirements of solvent-assisted lipid self-assembly, we have developed on-chip lipid microfluidics that take advantage of the SALB method to form miniaturized biomembranes with a rich complexity of components reminiscent of natural cell membranes. In turn, all these capabilities should further enable academic investigations related to membrane biology and pharmaceutical drug development efforts towards high-throughput lipid membrane functional assays.