title: Lipid bilayer vesicle generation using microfluidic jetting.
abstract: Bottom-up synthetic biology presents a novel approach for investigating and reconstituting biochemical systems and, potentially, minimal organisms. This emerging field engages engineers, chemists, biologists, and physicists to design and assemble basic biological components into complex, functioning systems from the bottom up. Such bottom-up systems could lead to the development of artificial cells for fundamental biological inquiries and innovative therapies(1,2). Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) can serve as a model platform for synthetic biology due to their cell-like membrane structure and size. Microfluidic jetting, or microjetting, is a technique that allows for the generation of GUVs with controlled size, membrane composition, transmembrane protein incorporation, and encapsulation(3). The basic principle of this method is the use of multiple, high-frequency fluid pulses generated by a piezo-actuated inkjet device to deform a suspended lipid bilayer into a GUV. The process is akin to blowing soap bubbles from a soap film. By varying the composition of the jetted solution, the composition of the encompassing solution, and/or the components included in the bilayer, researchers can apply this technique to create customized vesicles. This paper describes the procedure to generate simple vesicles from a droplet interface bilayer by microjetting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Coyne
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Karan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heureaux
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stachowiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley; Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan; allenliu@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Allen P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers