Biomimetic membranes

Biological membranes host a significant portion of the cellular machinery, play an essential role in intercellular signalling and are the first line of defence against pathogens and toxins. Furthermore, a significant number of pharmaceuticals target membrane components (for example G-protein coupled receptors). It is therefore important to better understand the cellular membrane and its components - but studying the membrane is challenging as it is a highly complex architecture. Any study carried out on a natural cell membrane must contend with factors that cannot be controlled or fully known, such as the exact composition of the membrane. Furthermore, membrane proteins themselves are challenging to study as they do not crystallize easily and are not water soluble, which means traditional biophysical methods of studying protein function cannot be used effectively. To address this, model membranes have been developed that mimic the physicochemical characteristics of lipid bilayers, but do not possess the complexity inherent to the cellular membrane. This simplifies the biophysical study of membranes and membrane components and significantly enhances the range of analytical tools that can be used.