BIOPHYSICAL ASPECTS OF AGAR-GEL SUPPORTED BILAYER-LIPID MEMBRANES - ANEW METHOD FOR FORMING AND STUDYING PLANAR BILAYER-LIPID MEMBRANES

Conventional bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs), formed by either the pain ting method or the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, lack the desired stabi lity. This paper presents a simple method for forming long-lived BLMs on agar-gel supports. The supported BLM reported has a greatly improve d mechanical stability and also has desirable dynamic properties. Thes e self-assembled BLMs are of significant interest, in view of their si milarity of biological membranes, their molecular dimension and their spontaneous formation.