Insulating tethered bilayer lipid membranes to study membrane proteins

Abstract

Tethered bilayer lipid membranes are stable and promising model systems that mimic several properties of biological membranes. They provide an electrically insulating platform for the incorporation and study of functional membrane proteins, especially ion channels. Covalently linked to a solid support, they also offer enhanced stability compared with other model architectures. If the support can be used as an electrode, electrical characterisation of the system is possible and biosensing applications can be envisioned. Here, we will review some tethered bilayer structures developed in the past and show some examples of functional protein incorporation, both on oxide and gold substrates.