Membrane photolithography: Direct micropatterning and manipulation of fluid phospholipid membranes in the aqueous phase using deep-UV light

The wet photolithography method was used for micropatterning fluid phospholipid bilayers. This approach involved spatially directed photodegradation of bilayer lipids using patterned deep-UV illumination resulting in the creation of optically defined patterns of fluid bilayers submerged in the aqueous phase. It extended into the aqueous phase popular methods of light-directed synthesis for designing peptides or DNA sequences on planar supports in the dry state. The results show that in conjugation with multiple patterning and backfilling cycles, new constructs can be used for high throughput proteomics, membrane-protein arrays, and aqueous-phase materials synthesis.