A polymer-based nanopore-integrated microfluidic device for generating stable bilayer lipid membranes.

Bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) and membrane proteins reconstituted in BLMs [ 1–7 ] have received much attention for their application in areas such as drug discovery, [ 8 ] single molecular detection, [ 9–13 ] and the next generation of DNA sequencing. [ 14,15 ] Multichannel devices made of membrane protein arrays have recently been developed for high-throughput screening (HTS) of drugs, proteomics, and nanopore DNA sequencing. [ 16–20 ] These devices are usually fabricated using microfabrication technology, which the major advantage that microfl uidic channels composed in such devices can deliver the desired solution of biological materials to individual spots of the array. Applying this advantage, we established a reproducible preparation procedure for BLMs in devices through microfl uidic channels. [ 21 , 22 ] The devices have open chambers and fl ow channels placed at the upper and lower sides of the BLMs; thus, the composition of the solutions at the BLMs can be changed using the microfl uidic channel. However, the stability of the BLMs is still a problem for these devices. The BLMs on microsized support pores, which are used mainly in conventional devices, are susceptible to pressure fl uctuations and mechanical vibrations during the solution exchange. Thus, solution exchange through microfl uidic channels has not yet been performed. Although signifi cant improvements in BLM stability have been achieved by sandwiching the bilayer with gelphase materials [ 23–25 ] and polymerizing lipid bilayers, [ 26 ]