Non-spherical liposome formation using 3D-laser-printed micro-cube structures

This conference paper describes a non-spherical liposome formation method using three-dimensional micro structures to emulate cytoskeleton proteins into biological cells. First, we fabricated a micro-cubic frame based on a stackable photoresist processed by direct laser writing. Next, we formed water-oil-water interfaces containing lipids on the faces of these microstructures in microfluidics channel. When the oil layer was sufficiently thin, lipid bilayer membranes (BLM) were formed. Moreover, we confirmed the BLM formation by reconstituting a membrane protein (alpha-hemolysin; αHL) and observed the diffusion of fluorescent molecules through the nanopores formed by αHL. We successfully formed the non-spherical liposomes with artificial cytoskeletons. The non-spherical liposomes will create new opportunities for the development of an artificial cell research model.