Lipid bilayer membrane arrays: Fabrication and applications

The lipid bilayer is one of the most important self-assembled structures in nature. In addition to compartmentalizing the cell, the lipid bilayer maintains many physical and biological characteristics of cell membranes, including lateral fluidity. It provides a wealth of opportunities for the study of membrane properties. Recently there has been an increasing interest in lipid bilayer arrays fabrication and their applications. In this review, the leading methods for creating lipid bilayer arrays are categorized as mechanical methods, pre-patterning substrate, direct UV patterning, direct blotting or stamping, polymer liftoff technique, robotic micro spotting, and microfluidics. The applications of bilayer arrays for cell adhesion and activation, lipid bilayer based 2D electrophoresis, and high-throughput binding assays are also presented.