Optically assembled droplet interface bilayer (OptiDIB) networks from cell-sized microdroplets

Friddin, Mark S.; Bolognesi, Guido; Elani, Yuval; Brooks, Nicholas J.; Law, Robert V.; Seddon, John M.; Neil, Mark A. A.; Ces, Oscar

doi:10.1039/c6sm01357k

Cited by 33 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Given the low solubility of these polymers in water, and prior results showing emulsion droplet stabilization using novel polymer zwitterions, we hypothesized that the interzwitterion interactions may induce interdroplet adhesion. Such interdroplet interactions are known to yield solid‐like materials that emulate chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties of cell membranes, and are interesting as tissue mimics and biobased electronics. For example, electrical signals were transmitted through networks of adhesive droplets by encapsulation of pore‐forming membrane proteins in surfactant (lipid) bilayers .…”

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confidence: 99%

Forming Sticky Droplets from Slippery Polymer Zwitterions

et al. 2017

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Polymer zwitterions are generally regarded as hydrophilic and repellant or "slippery" materials. Here, a case is described in which the polymer zwitterion structure is tailored to decrease water solubility, stabilize emulsion droplets, and promote interdroplet adhesion. Harnessing the upper critical solution temperature of sulfonium- and ammonium-based polymer zwitterions in water, adhesive droplets are prepared by adding organic solvent to an aqueous polymer solution at elevated temperature, followed by agitation to induce emulsification. Droplet aggregation is observed as the mixture cools. Variation of salt concentration, temperature, polymer concentration, and polymer structure modulates these interdroplet interactions, resulting in distinct changes in emulsion stability and fluidity. Under attractive conditions, emulsions encapsulating 50-75% oil undergo gelation. By contrast, emulsions prepared under conditions where droplets are nonadhesive remain fluid and, for oil fractions exceeding 0.6, coalescence is observed. The uniquely reactive nature of the selected zwitterions allows their in situ modification and affords a route to chemically trigger deaggregation and droplet dispersion. Finally, experiments performed in a microfluidic device, in which droplets are formed under conditions that either promote or suppress adhesion, confirm the salt-responsive character of these emulsions and the persistence of adhesive interdroplet interactions under flow.

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confidence: 99%

Forming Sticky Droplets from Slippery Polymer Zwitterions

et al. 2017

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“…An inverted epi-fluorescence dual-carousel microscope (Nikon TE2000-U, Nikon Instruments, Tokyo, Japan) combined with an optical trapping system was used for imaging and optical manipulation, as described previously [12,28]. Briefly, the setup involves a conventional single beam optical trap that was based on a linearly polarised beam from an Ytterbium fibre laser source (20 W at 1070 nm; IPG Photonics, Europe).…”

Section: Optical Trapping and Microscopy Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fusing Artificial Cell Compartments and Lipid Domains Using Optical Traps: A Tool to Modulate Membrane Composition and Phase Behaviour

2020

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New technologies for manipulating biomembranes have vast potential to aid the understanding of biological phenomena, and as tools to sculpt novel artificial cell architectures for synthetic biology. The manipulation and fusion of vesicles using optical traps is amongst the most promising due to the level of spatiotemporal control it affords. Herein, we conduct a suite of feasibility studies to show the potential of optical trapping technologies to (i) modulate the lipid composition of a vesicle by delivering new membrane material through fusion events and (ii) manipulate and controllably fuse coexisting membrane domains for the first time. We also outline some noteworthy morphologies and transitions that the vesicle undergoes during fusion, which gives us insight into the mechanisms at play. These results will guide future exploitation of laser-assisted membrane manipulation methods and feed into a technology roadmap for this emerging technology.

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“…1(b)). In each case, a lipid-monolayer self-assembles at the oil/water interface and a DIB is formed when the droplets are manipulated into contact, which can be achieved in a number of ways including manual or robotic droplet anchors, 3,4 electric fields, 5 optical traps, 6 compressible substrates, 7 via magnetic beads, 8 or using droplet microfluidic systems 9,10 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The key advantages of DIBs compared to supported lipid bilayers, black lipid membranes, and liposomes are that they are easy to form, 1 offer high stability, 14,15 can be used to assemble asymmetric bilayers by supplying different lipids to each water droplet (Fig. 1(c)), 6,10,16 and can be assembled into multi-component bilayer networks consisting of up to thousands of microdroplets 17,18 18,19 have led DIBs to become increasingly regarded as powerful minimal tissue constructs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering plant membranes using droplet interface bilayers

et al. 2017

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Droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) have become widely recognised as a robust platform for constructing model membranes and are emerging as a key technology for the bottom-up assembly of synthetic cell-like and tissue-like structures. DIBs are formed when lipid-monolayer coated water droplets are brought together inside a well of oil, which is excluded from the interface as the DIB forms. The unique features of the system, compared to traditional approaches (e.g., supported lipid bilayers, black lipid membranes, and liposomes), is the ability to engineer multi-layered bilayer networks by connecting multiple droplets together in 3D, and the capability to impart bilayer asymmetry freely within these droplet architectures by supplying droplets with different lipids. Yet despite these achievements, one potential limitation of the technology is that DIBs formed from biologically relevant components have not been well studied. This could limit the reach of the platform to biological systems where bilayer composition and asymmetry are understood to play a key role. Herein, we address this issue by reporting the assembly of asymmetric DIBs designed to replicate the plasma membrane compositions of three different plant species; Arabidopsis thaliana, tobacco, and oats, by engineering vesicles with different amounts of plant phospholipids, sterols and cerebrosides for the first time. We show that vesicles made from our plant lipid formulations are stable and can be used to assemble asymmetric plant DIBs. We verify this using a bilayer permeation assay, from which we extract values for absolute effective bilayer permeation and bilayer stability. Our results confirm that stable DIBs can be assembled from our plant membrane mimics and could lead to new approaches for assembling model systems to study membrane translocation and to screen new agrochemicals in plants.

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Optically assembled droplet interface bilayer (OptiDIB) networks from cell-sized microdroplets

Cited by 33 publications

References 37 publications

Forming Sticky Droplets from Slippery Polymer Zwitterions

Forming Sticky Droplets from Slippery Polymer Zwitterions

Fusing Artificial Cell Compartments and Lipid Domains Using Optical Traps: A Tool to Modulate Membrane Composition and Phase Behaviour

Engineering plant membranes using droplet interface bilayers

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