Supported lipid bilayer platforms to probe cell mechanobiology

Abstract

Mammalian and bacterial cells sense and exert mechanical forces through the process of mechanotransduction, which interconverts biochemical and physical signals. This is especially important in contact-dependent signaling, where ligand-receptor binding occurs at cell-cell or cell-ECM junctions. By virtue of occurring within these specialized junctions, receptors engaged in contact-dependent signaling undergo oligomerization and coupling with the cytoskeleton as part of their signaling mechanisms. While our ability to measure and map biochemical signaling within cell junctions has advanced over the past decades, physical cues remain difficult to map in space and time. Recently, supported lipid bilayer (SLB) technologies have emerged as a flexible platform to measure and manipulate membrane receptor mechanotransduction, allowing one to mimic cell-cell junctions. Changing the lipid composition and underlying substrate tunes bilayer fluidity, and lipid and ligand micro- and nano-patterning spatially control positioning and clustering of receptors. Patterning metal gridlines within SLBs introduces corrals that confine lipid mobility and introduce mechanical resistance. Here we review fundamental SLB mechanics and how SLBs can be engineered as tunable cell substrates for mechanotransduction studies. Finally, we highlight the impact of this work in understanding the biophysical mechanisms of cell adhesion.

RGD‐functionalized supported lipid bilayers modulate pre‐osteoblast adherence and promote osteogenic differentiation

“…Ligand immobilization likely inhibits integrin clustering (Glazier & Salaita, 2017) and thereby decreases cell adhesion strength and signaling resulting in differentiation (Marie et al, 2014). Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) provide a platform for functionalizing biomaterials with mobile ligands, including RGD (Glazier & Salaita, 2017;Koçer & Jonkheijm, 2017;van Weerd, Karperien, & Jonkheijm, 2015). SLBs are made of phospholipids and comparable to natural cell membranes.…”

“…SLBs are made of phospholipids and comparable to natural cell membranes. SLBs are extensively applied into modern clinical use owing to their biophysical and chemical versatility (Ashley et al, 2011;Glazier & Salaita, 2017;Soler et al, 2018). SLBs are extensively applied into modern clinical use owing to their biophysical and chemical versatility (Ashley et al, 2011;Glazier & Salaita, 2017;Soler et al, 2018).…”

“…They are nonfouling in nature (van Weerd et al, 2015). They are applied with micro-and nano-array format, which has opened new avenues to create biochip strategies, for example, sensing strategy for diagnostics, carrier role for vaccines, theranostics, and labeling capability for imaging (Ashley et al, 2011), immunoassays (Soler et al, 2018), and tissue engineering approaches for multiple cellular processes (Glazier & Salaita, 2017). They are applied with micro-and nano-array format, which has opened new avenues to create biochip strategies, for example, sensing strategy for diagnostics, carrier role for vaccines, theranostics, and labeling capability for imaging (Ashley et al, 2011), immunoassays (Soler et al, 2018), and tissue engineering approaches for multiple cellular processes (Glazier & Salaita, 2017).…”

“…One of the intrinsic properties of SLBs is that they are fluid, that is, the phospholipids laterally diffuse through the layers (Glazier & Salaita, 2017;van Weerd et al, 2015). One of the intrinsic properties of SLBs is that they are fluid, that is, the phospholipids laterally diffuse through the layers (Glazier & Salaita, 2017;van Weerd et al, 2015).…”

“…One of the intrinsic properties of SLBs is that they are fluid, that is, the phospholipids laterally diffuse through the layers (Glazier & Salaita, 2017;van Weerd et al, 2015). The fluidity of SLBs and thereby the mobility of the ligands can be adjusted by changing the fatty acid composition and ligand density (Glazier & Salaita, 2017;Koçer & Jonkheijm, 2017;van Weerd et al, 2015). The fluidity of SLBs and thereby the mobility of the ligands can be adjusted by changing the fatty acid composition and ligand density (Glazier & Salaita, 2017;Koçer & Jonkheijm, 2017;van Weerd et al, 2015).…”