Lipid Membranes and Their Interaction with Proteins. The natural cell membrane offers a fantastic example of both molecular self assembly and exquisite recognition events that combine to facilitate effective function of essential life processes. Our ability to understand and ultimately to mimic and synthetically duplicate the complexity and function of many cellular processes relies on an improved knowledge of biomembrane architecture and the relationships between membrane lipids and proteins. Our group studies the assembly of several proteins on lipid membrane surfaces. We are interested in controlling the binding and organization of enzymes, antibodies, and other proteins in dense arrays on surfaces.
Applications extend to sensors and bioreactors.
The fundamental issue is the induction of specific protein-surface interactions while avoiding nonspecific protein binding which often inactivates the protein. An example of lipid domains in a monolayer mixture of cholesterol and a phospholipid is shown below.