Tethered Bilayer Membrane Formation on Silanized Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide Surface

Silane compound was synthesized via click chemistry and a mixture of synthesis products without purification was used to form the self-assembled monolayers on metal oxide conducting films of fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO). Silanized FTO surfaces triggered rupture of multilamellar vesicles and formed electrically insulating tethered bilayer membranes (tBLMs). In contrast to well-known hybrid bilayer membranes on silane monolayers such as ones formed from octadecyltrichlorosilane, tBLMs on FTO contained water-ion reservoir between solid surface and phospholipid bilayer sheet. They demonstrated biological relevance and ability to reconstitute the pore-forming protein channels such as alpha-hemolysin from Staphylococcus aureus and melittin. The addition of cholesterol to tBLMs decreased the membrane-damaging effect of melittin, while the opposite was observed in the case of alpha-hemolysin. The tBLMs can be regenerated multiple times without losing their functionality. The described methodology (both synthesis and formation of anchor monolayer) can be extended to any oxide film surface by properly adjusting chemical composition of molecular anchor and silanization conditions. This makes the proposed biomimetic membrane system attractive for various applications including biomedical sensors for the detection of pore-forming toxins.