Nanodomain Formation in Planar Supported Lipid BilayersComposed of Fluid and Polymerized Dienoyl Lipids

PPolymerization of synthetic phospholipid monomers has been widely used to enhance the stability of lipid membranes in applications such as membrane-based biosensing, where the inherent instability of fluid-phase lipid bilayers can be problematic. However, lipid polymerization typically decreases membrane fluidity, which may be required to maintain the activity of reconstituted integral proteins and peptides. Prior work has shown that a bilayer composed of binary mixtures of poly(lipid) and fluid lipid exhibits enhanced stability and supports the function of incorporated biomolecules. This work examines the structural basis of these findings using planar supported lipid bilayers (PSLBs) composed of binary mixtures of a polymerizable lipid, 1,2-bis[10-(2’,4’-hexadienoloxy)decanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (bis-SorbPC), and a non-polymerizable lipid, 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPhPC). Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) measurements showed that long range lateral diffusio...