(515g) Lateral Pressure Changes of Supported Lipid Bilayers Measured Using Microcantilevers

In this talk we describe how to measure the lateral pressure of supported lipid membranes (SLBs) using microcantilevers. We provide a number of experiments to confirm that we can monitor lateral pressure changes due to changes in the electrostatic interaction between lipids, lipid transfer, and cholesterol insertion in the SLB. We propose models to relate the lateral pressure measurements to the different interactions. Interestingly, we find we can control and tune the lateral pressure of a SLB by modifying the ratio of cationic to anionic lipids in the bilayer. We offer a novel technique to characterize supported lipid bilayers.