Abstract
We describe our recent researches relating to the effects of solid supports on the structure, physical properties and chemical reactivity of supported lipid bilayer membranes, which we apply as model membrane reaction fields. Mica and SiO2/Si, most widely used “inert” substrates, showed considerable difference in the two-dimensional domain formation and reactivity to amyloid β peptides in supported membranes containing ganglioside GM1. Tethered-type supported membrane containing photosynthetic membrane proteins, LH2 and LH1-RC, retains the function of intermolecular energy transfer, and achieved the remarkable improvement in the lateral diffusion of proteins and lipid compared with conventional supported membrane.
