Lipid bilayer on a droplet: Formation of lipid bilayers on a droplet array

This paper describes a method for the formation of a lipid bilayer on a droplet-based chamber array. This method enables us to form small chambers sealed with lipid bilayers easily. The lipid membranes are stable and remain for at least 1 day. We successfully observed a transmembrane phenomenon via the lipid membrane on a droplet by fluorescent monitoring. Due to its small volume, subtle changes of molecular amount can be clearly detected. Therefore, we believe that those lipid membrane chambers are useful for a fundamental research of lipid membranes and a high throughput analysis of membrane proteins. By reconstituting membrane proteins (α-hemolysin), we demonstrated that those membranes were lipid bilayers.