Abstract
The multifaceted role of biological membranes prompted early the development of artificial lipid-based models with a primary view of reconstituting the natural functions in vitro so as to study and exploit chemoreception for sensor engineering. Over the years, a fair amount of knowledge on the artificial lipid membranes, as both, suspended or supported lipid films and liposomes, has been disseminated and has helped to diversify and expand initial scopes. Artificial lipid membranes can be constructed by several methods, stabilized by various means, functionalized in a variety of ways, experimented upon intensively, and broadly utilized in sensor development, drug testing, drug discovery or as molecular tools and research probes for elucidating the mechanics and the mechanisms of biological membranes. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art, discusses the diversity of applications, and presents future perspectives. The newly-introduced field of artificial cells further broadens the applicability of artificial membranes in studying the evolution of life.
Highlights
Lipid membranes have a key role to play in most physiological processes: cell protection, cell-to-cell communication, between-cell and within-cell control of micro-environments, and metabolism
Using nano-cores, these interactions can be even monitored at the molecular level, e.g., by cryoelectron microscopy [72]; further, the self-assembly process per se can be studied in order to reveal critical parameters for the formation of supported bilayer models [69,70]
White et al [122] proposed an alternative membrane architecture, consisting of a glass-nanopore supported monolayer and a lipid bilayer suspended across a small orifice; this platform allows for low-noise and higher bandwidth recordings
Summary
Lipid membranes have a key role to play in most physiological processes: cell protection, cell-to-cell communication, between-cell and within-cell control of micro-environments, and metabolism. The two leaflets of the plasma membrane do not have similar phospholipid composition: aminophospholipids are mostly found at the inner (cytoplasmic) leaflet whereas cholinephospholipids preferentially occupy the outer (exoplasmic) leaflet [1] This asymmetry serves certain functions, such as the formation of a procoagulant interface upon cell disruption to trigger recognition events, the regulation of membrane budding, or the structural stability [2]; yet, it is not clear how this asymmetry initially arises. Artificial lipid membranes could be constructed and experimented upon since the early 1960s (for a recent review see [13]) These models served effectively and in parallel two scopes: elucidation of physiological mechanisms and niche applicability in therapeutics and metrology. Current design and construction approaches, state-of-the art modularization, and fictionalization are presented, along with insights on the future perspectives of cell mimicking
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