Immobilising Giant Unilamellar Vesicles with Zirconium Metal-Organic Framework Anchors

Lipid bilayer vesicles have provided a window into the function and fundamental properties of cells. Vesicles, however, do not remain still, requiring some microscopy experiments to include a preparatory fixation step. Here, we describe a straightforward method to immobilise giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) using a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) and demonstrate that they stay in position on a timescale of minutes- to hours. Furthermore, immobilising GUVs in this way has no discernible adverse effect on GUV stability and permeability. These findings indicate that this strategy may be a powerful tool for future studies into lipid membrane function and dynamics.