Electrostatically targeted intermembrane lipid exchange with micropatterned supported membranes

Herein we introduce a technique for selectively delivering membrane components to membrane patterns on a solid support. Electrostatic charge on membrane surfaces is employed as a method of targeting intermembrane adhesion and lipid exchange between substrate-supported membranes and free vesicles or membrane-coated microbeads. Membranes of similar net charge density generally do not adhere or exchange components. In contrast, attractive electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged membranes can induce adhesion and ultimately lipid exchange between the membranes. This process enables the selective delivery of new materials to preformed supported membrane regions whose electrostatic charge densities complement that of the delivery membrane. Uniform exposure of an array of supported membrane corrals with different net charge densities to a pool of delivery membrane vesicles or membrane-coated microbeads results in selective deposition of the new membrane contents into corrals with complementary electrostatic charge density.