Creating addressable aqueous microcompartments above solid supported phospholipid bilayers using lithographically patterned poly(dimethylsiloxane) molds

Herein we report the use of microcontact displacement (mu CD) to generate a ddressable arrays of aqueous solutions above fluid lipid bilayers by bringi ng a patterned PDMS mold into conformal contact with a phospholipid membran e on a solid supported substrate. Epifluorescence microscopy established th at the bilayer material was displaced in regions where contact between the mold and substrate was made. Photobleaching experiments confirmed that the bilayer sectors remained individually fluid but completely separated. The m icrocompartments created by mu CD could be individually injected with aqueo us solutions that remained sealed from their neighbors. This procedure was then exploited for screening a small library of aqueous-phase molecules for their ability to inhibit binding between surface-bound ligands and soluble protein receptors.