Fluidity evaluation of cell membrane model formed on graphene oxide with single particle tracking using quantum dot

Abstract

The lipid bilayer is the fundamental structure of plasma membranes, and artificial lipid bilayer membranes are used as model systems of cell membranes. Recently we reported the formation of a supported lipid bilayer (SLB) on graphene oxide (GO) by the vesicle fusion method. In this study, we conjugated a quantum dot (Qdot) on the SLB surface as a fluorescence probe brighter than dye-labeled lipid molecules, to qualitatively evaluate the fluidity of the SLB on GO by the single particle tracking method. We obtained the diffusion coefficient of the Qdot-conjugated lipids in the SLB on GO. We also performed the Qdot conjugation on the SLB containing a lipid conjugated with polyethylene glycol, to prevent the nonspecific adsorption of Qdots. The difference in the diffusion coefficients between the SLBs on the GO and the bare SiO2 regions was evaluated from the trajectory of single Qdot-conjugated lipid diffusing between the two regions.