Abstract
Lipid bilayers supported on solid substrates are considered to offer a potential as biological devices utilizing biological membranes and membrane proteins. In particular, highly patterned bilayers hold a promise for the development of biological devices. Previously, we proposed the concept of “active patterning” and demonstrated the gel-phase domain patterning in the supported bilayers of the DMPC-DOPC system using the light irradiation technique. The essence of this technique is the control of the spatial distribution of bilayer composition due to the local temperature increase. In this study, we applied this technique to the assembly of artificial raft domains in the supported lipid bilayers of the PSM-DOPC-cholesterol ternary system. After the light irradiation, the raft domain size increased in the irradiated region. This result means that the local PSM condensation enhanced the formation of the rafts, and it implies the possibility of the active patterning of the raft domain.
