We present a novel method to form more than 10,000 asymmetric lipid-bilayer membranes at a time on micro-chamber arrays. In our method, the arrayed asymmetric lipid-bilayers, where lipid compositions are different between inner and outer leaflets, are formed by injecting several kinds of liquids into a micro-device that has hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic surfaces. The lipid compositional asymmetry ...

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments have been performed on large unilamellar liposomes prepared from 1,2-dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC), 1,2-dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and 1,2-distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in heavy water by extrusion through polycarbonate filters with 500 A pores. The neutron scattering intensity I(Q) in the region of scattering vectors Q c...

A photoresponsive ion carrier based on calix[4]arene was synthesized for the control of Na+ flux across lipid bilayer membranes by visible light. Calix[4]arene was chosen as a basic skeleton of a photoresponsive ion carrier because its ether derivatives are known to act as Na+ ion carriers in lipid bilayer membranes. For the synthesis of a photoresponsive carrier, dimethylaminoazobenzene was in...

Single- and multicomponent lipid bilayers of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC), 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DSPC), isostearyl isostearate, and heptadecanoyl heptadecanoate in the gel phase are studied via molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the structural properties of multicomponent bilayers can deviate strongly from the structures of the...

A photoresponsive ion carrier based on calix[4]arene was synthesized for the control of Na+ flux across lipid bilayer membranes by visible light. Calix[4]arene was chosen as a basic skeleton of a photoresponsive ion carrier because its ether derivatives are known to act as Na+ ion carriers in lipid bilayer membranes. For the synthesis of a photoresponsive carrier, dimethylaminoazobenzene was in...

PDGI-PAAm gels with well oriented lipid bilayers show a quasi-unidirectional shrinkage upon uniaxial stretching along the bilayers. They shrink largely parallel to the bilayer but slightly perpendicular to it in order not to increase the bilayer area and its interfacial energy. Such an anisotropic deformation can be well-modelled based on classical theories for gel networks and lipid layers.

The second messenger lipid PIP(3) (phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate) is generated by the lipid kinase PI3K (phosphoinositide-3-kinase) in the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, where it regulates a broad array of cell processes by recruiting multiple signaling proteins containing PIP(3)-specific pleckstrin homology (PH) domains to the membrane surface. Despite the broad importance of...