Electroformation of Giant Liposomes from Densely Micro-patterned Lipid Films

We describe a method for controllably generating giant balloon-like liposomes through electroformation of densely micro-patterned lipid films. These balloon-like liposomes are still tethered to the substrate through a thin lipid tube. We found that the patterns that were more densely spaced generated the balloon-like liposomes, whereas patterns that were sparsely spaced generated hemi-spherical dome shaped liposomes. Utilizing this feature, we patterned lipid patches closely so that the growing hemi-spherical dome shaped liposomes begin to touch and then push each other; this causes their shape to change from domes to the balloon shapes, which are more easily detached from the substrate.