Planar Lipid Bilayer Formation

These experiments were done either on a vertical bilayer set up (IonoVation, Osnabrück, Germany) as described previously [6 (link),22 (link)] or in horizontal bilayers using an eNPR amplifier, equipped with a BLM_chip flowcell (Elements srl, Cesena, Italy). A 1% hexadecane solution (MERCK KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) in n-hexane (Carl ROTH, Karlsruhe, Germany) was used for pretreating the Teflon foil (Goodfellow GmbH, Hamburg, Germany). The hexadecane solution (ca. 0.5 μL) was added to the rim of the hole (100 μm in diameter) in the Teflon foil with a bent Hamilton syringe (Hamilton Company, Reno, NV, USA). The experimental solution contained 100 mM KCl and was buffered to pH 7.0 with 10 mM HEPES/KOH. As a lipid we used 1,2-diphythanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPhPC), 1,2-diphythanoyl-sn-glycerol-3 phosphatidyl-serine DPhPS, or n1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1′-rac-glycerol) DPhPG.