Hydrogel-Stabilized Droplet Bilayers for High Speed Solution Exchange

Many applications utilizing artificial lipid bilayers require the ability to exchange the bilayer's solution environment. However, because of the instability of the bilayer, the rate of solution exchange is limited, which significantly hinders the measurement rate and throughput. We have developed an artificial bilayer system that can withstand high flow speeds, up to 2.1 m/s, by supporting the bilayer with a hydrogel. We demonstrated the ability to measure during flow by measuring the conductance of gramicidin-A channels while switching between solutions of two different compositions, recording a time to measure 90% change in current of approximately 2.7 seconds at a flow rate of 0.1 m/s. We also demonstrated a potential application of this system by measuring the conductance modulation of the rat TRPM8 ion channel by an agonist and antagonist at varying concentrations, obtaining 7-point IC(50) and EC(50) values in approximately 7 minutes and 4-point values within 4 minutes.