Making lipid membranes rough, tough, and ready to hit the road

Solid-supported lipid bilayers hold strong promise as bioanalytical sensor platforms because they readily mimic the same multivalent ligand-receptor interactions that occur in real cells. Such devices might be used to monitor air and water quality under real-world conditions. At present, however, supported membranes are considered too fragile to survive the harsh environments typically required for non-laboratory use. Specifically, they lack the resiliency to withstand air exposure and the thermal and mechanical stresses associated with device transport, storage, and continuous use over long periods of time. Several successful strategies are now emerging to make supported membranes tougher. These strategies incorporate mimics of the cytoskeleton and glycocalyx of real cell membranes. The promise of these more robust lipid bilayer architectures indicates that future materials should be designed to more fully resemble the actual structure of cell membranes.