Tuning the Separation Performance in Supported Lipid Bilayer Electrophoresis Using Composite Lipid Membranes

Supported lipid bilayer electrophoresis is a recently-developed technique for separating membrane-bound species within a native-like environment. Safeguarding biomolecule structure during purification is paramount for performing reliable analytical and diagnostic assays of biomolecule function and interaction after separation. The key features of the supported bilayer that make this technique possible are two-dimensional fluidity of the membrane constituents and the ability to tune the bilayer chemistry and physical properties. Lipid rafts have drawn a lot of attention due to their high affinity for some signaling proteins. We have developed a composite membrane with patterned raft and fluid phase in order to tune the separation. The composite membrane provides us information on the partitioning behavior of the membrane species and the flexibility in tailoring the geometry allows separations to be fine-tuned. This information is being used in the development of assays to quantify partitioning behaviors of membrane biomolecules as a function of membrane composition and their activation level.