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Encyclopedia of Biophysics pp 1–13Cite as

Droplet Networks, from Lipid Bilayers to Synthetic Tissues

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Introduction

An aqueous droplet in a solution of lipid in oil acquires a lipid monolayer coat. When two such droplets are brought together, they adhere through the formation of a droplet interface bilayer (DIB) (Fig. 1a). A high contact angle at the interface (Fig. 1a) indicates a strong interaction between the droplets (Thiam et al. 2012). DIBs in droplet pairs were first developed as a means to simplify and miniaturize planar bilayer experiments in which transmembrane channels and pores are characterized by ionic current recording (Bayley et al. 2008). They have additional technical advantages, for example, bilayers with lipid asymmetry can be formed reliably (Hwang et al. 2008). Droplet-hydrogel bilayers (DHB) allow the simultaneous recording of current and fluorescence (Weatherill and Wallace 2015).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Droplet interface bilayer networks. (a) When two droplets, encapsulated in lipid monolayers, are brought together in an oil, they form a droplet interface bilayer (DIB) (Booth...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Michael J. Booth, Vanessa Restrepo Schild, Florence G. Downs & Hagan Bayley

Authors
  1. Michael J. Booth
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  2. Vanessa Restrepo Schild
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  3. Florence G. Downs
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  4. Hagan Bayley
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael J. Booth .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Leicester MRC Centre, Leicester, UK

    Gordon Roberts

  2. Dept Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anthony Watts

Section Editor information

  1. Membrane Biophysics Platform, Department of Chemistry and Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK

    John Seddon

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Booth, M.J., Restrepo Schild, V., Downs, F.G., Bayley, H. (2019). Droplet Networks, from Lipid Bilayers to Synthetic Tissues. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_567-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_567-1

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