title: Electrical measurements of bilayer membranes formed by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition on single-crystal silicon.
abstract: Bilayer membranes on solid supports are used for fundamental studies of biophysical properties and for the development of biosensors and other devices. Here we report on electrically addressable bilayer membranes formed by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB)-based deposition on single-crystal silicon. The incorporation of a polymer cushion ensures high lipid mobility in both the lower and upper leaflet, allowing the potential for combined investigations of electrical, structural, and dynamic characteristics of membrane-associated proteins. Impedance spectroscopy is used to demonstrate that the lipid bilayers are robust and reproducible with an impedance of about 10(4) Omega cm2 and a capacitance of about 0.8 microF cm(-2). The ability to characterize ion channels is demonstrated using the model system gramicidin. These results demonstrate that artificial bilayers formed by LB deposition have many unique advantages for electrical measurements of membranes and their components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Vesselin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nikolov
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Merzlyakov
authors.forename: Kalina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hristova
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Searson
mesh_terms: D004560:Electricity; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D012825:Silicon