Behavior of raft-like domain in stacked structures of ternary lipid bilayers prepared by self-spreading method

Abstract

We fabricated stacked structures of ternary lipid bilayers consisting of phosphatidylcholines, sphingolipids, and cholesterol on solid substrates using the self-spreading technique. The formed membranes exhibit phase separation into liquid-ordered (Lo) and liquid-disordered (Ld) domains whose domain patterns depend on the distance from the lipid source in self-spreading. We found that membrane fluidity, which is represented by the morphology of Lo domains, increased as the number of bilayers in the solid substrate increases. Hence, the self-spreading method can simultaneously provide lipid membranes with various fluidities. Moreover, we observed that Lo domains align vertically among the stacked lipid bilayers.