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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 5: Membranes and Vesicles I

BP 5.3: Vortrag

Montag, 17. März 2025, 12:00–12:15, H46

Artificial Membranes Through Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD): Exploring the Lipid Rafts Model — •Nancy Gómez-Vierling¹, D.A. Saavedra¹, M.A. Cisternas², M. Soto-Arriaza³, C. Shen⁴, P. Huber⁴, and U.G. Volkmann¹ — ¹Instituto de Física, Pontificia Univ. Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile — ²Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Univ. de Valparaíso, Santiago, Chile — ³Facultad de Medicina y Ciencia, Univ. San Sebastian, Santiago, Chile — ⁴DESY, Hamburg, Germany

Essential to life, cell membranes are currently modelled as functional microdomains known as lipid rafts. These cholesterol- and sphingolipid-enriched domains are fundamental for organizing and categorizing key cellular processes. This research explores the assembly of artificial membranes inspired by the lipid raft model using PVD. This solvent-free technique previously demonstrated in DPPC membranes, is now applied to mixtures of sphingomyelin, cholesterol, and DOPC to investigate the self-assembly of microdomains under controlled conditions. Optimizing parameters such as temperature, deposition time, and thickness enables the successful formation of thin films on silicon substrates. Preliminary FTIR and GISAXS analyses confirm molecular integrity after cholesterol and DOPC evaporation, while ongoing studies examine the desorption and thermal stability of these SLBs. This work advances our understanding of membrane physics and establishes a versatile platform for creating model membranes with potential applications in biotechnology and materials science. Acknowledgements: ANID Fellowships (DS, NGV); Puente UC 2024-25.

Keywords: Artificial Membranes; Supported Lipid Bilayers (SLBs); Lipid Raft Models; Membrane growth in High Vacuum; Ellipsometric Thickness Control