Non-Invasive Measurement Techniques for Measuring Bilayers in Droplet-Interface-Bilayers

Phospholipids and membrane proteins are two of the fundamental building blocks of cell membranes in living organisms. These molecules are amphipathic and synthetic membranes made of phospholipids, called bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs), are used to understand the characteristics of a cell membrane. Studies of these BLMs have been performed on both solid support and liquid support systems. A droplet interface bilayer (DIB) is a liquid support system where a monolayer is formed around a water droplet placed in oil and a bilayer is formed when two of these droplets are placed in contact. For impedance measurements, electrodes are placed in the water on each side of the bilayer. The measurements first insure there is a bilayer and second to obtain information about the bilayer. In a DIB system the electrodes pierce the monolayer surrounding the droplet causing instabilities in the monolayer. This study focuses on a non-invasive technique for measuring the bilayer by using the electrodes to contact the monolayer around the droplets and take impedance measurements without piercing the monolayer.