DOPC/DPPC fluid-gel phase segregation in supported lipid membranes prepared by fusion on thiol-modified gold substrates

The formation of lipid bilayers on solid surfaces is a complex mechanism that depends strongly on the roughness, charges and hydrophilicity of the support. Such surfaces modified with lipid bilayers allow to insert functional proteins with the aim to propose membrane-based biosensors in which the sensing interface is generally composed of gold. In this work, we have examined the ability of dioleoyl-/dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine vesicles to fuse at the surface of gold supports modified with two hydrophilic thiols, one of which was negatively charged. We have evidenced that the negative charges at the surface of the substrate have a great influence on the presence of defects and on the formation of gel domains in lipid supported bilayers. Copyright © 2014 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.