title: Stepwise synthesis of giant unilamellar vesicles on a microfluidic assembly line.
abstract: Among the molecular milieu of the cell, the membrane bilayer stands out as a complex and elusive synthetic target. We report a microfluidic assembly line that produces uniform cellular compartments from droplet, lipid, and oil/water interface starting materials. Droplets form in a lipid-containing oil flow and travel to a junction where the confluence of oil and extracellular aqueous media establishes a flow-patterned interface that is both stable and reproducible. A triangular post mediates phase transfer bilayer assembly by deflecting droplets from oil, through the interface, and into the extracellular aqueous phase to yield a continuous stream of unilamellar phospholipid vesicles with uniform and tunable size. The size of the droplet precursor dictates vesicle size, encapsulation of small-molecule cargo is highly efficient, and the single bilayer promotes functional insertion of a bacterial transmembrane pore.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida 33458, USA.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matosevic
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Paegel
mesh_terms: D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D053835:Unilamellar Liposomes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D009821:Oils; D053835:Unilamellar Liposomes; D014867:Water