Planar lipid membrane array for membrane protein chip

We report the novel methods to reconstitute artificial lipid membranes in an array on a chip, using the micro-fluidic system, for the batch analysis of membrane proteins. The micro-fabricated device should render the ease of injection/recirculation of the reagents as well as multi-channel and high-sensitive detection of protein activities incorporated in the bilayer membrane. It is shown that the lipid bilayer membrane can be formed on 100∼200 μm square apertures fabricated in a silicon substrate in two methods. In the first method, the bilayer is formed by flowing the lipid solution and the buffer alternately. In the second method, it is done by placing a buffer droplet on a thin layer of the lipid solution. Parylene coating is found to be suitable for both bilayer formation and noise reduction. The future application includes the high-sensitive ion sensor chip and high-throughput drug screening chip.