Formation, Stability, and Mobility of One-Dimensional Lipid Bilayer on High Curvature Substrates

Curved lipid membranes are ubiquitous in living systems and play an important role in many biological processes. To understand how curvature and lipid composition affect membrane formation and fluidity we have assembled and studied mixed 1,2-Dioleoyl-sn-Glycero-3-Phosphocholine (DOPC) and 1,2-Dioleoyl-sn-Glycero-3-Phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) supported lipid bilayers on amorphous silicon nanowires with controlled diameters ranging from 20 nm to 200 nm. Addition of cone-shaped DOPE molecules to cylindrical DOPC molecules promotes vesicle fusion and bilayer formation on smaller diameter nanowires. Our experiments demonstrate that nanowire-supported bilayers are mobile, exhibit fast recovery after photobleaching, and have low concentration of defects. Lipid diffusion coefficients in these high-curvature tubular membranes are comparable to the values reported for flat supported bilayers and increase with decreasing nanowire diameter