Advanced Materials, Vol.10, No.12, 949-949, 1998
Enzyme-assisted nanoscale lithography in lipid membranes
Combining biological tools,vith nanotechnology: The use of a lipolytic enzyme together with an atomic force microscope to locally hydrolyze supported phospholipid membranes is reported. The Figure illustrates how the enzyme cleaves one fatty acid off the glycerol backbone by pulling the lipid out of the membrane. This enzyme-assisted lithography method can be used to structure artificial as well as natural cell membranes.