Tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs): Interest and applications for biological membrane investigations

• Achievement of tBLMs is a thriving way to mimic the membrane environment.
• tBLMs are the most promising model for efficient membrane protein reconstitution.
• tBLMs improve membrane protein stability for sensing assay.
• tBLMs allow investigation of molecular processes occurring in cell membranes.
• Building up tBLMs remains a case-by-case development.

Biological membranes play a central role in the biology of the cell. They are not only the hydrophobic barrier allowing separation between two water soluble compartments but also a supra-molecular entity that has vital structural functions. Notably, they are involved in many exchange processes between the outside and inside cellular spaces. Accounting for the complexity of cell membranes, reliable models are needed to acquire current knowledge of the molecular processes occurring in membranes. To simplify the investigation of lipid/protein interactions, the use of biomimetic membranes is an approach that allows manipulation of the lipid composition of specific domains and/or the protein composition, and the evaluation of the reciprocal effects. Since the middle of the 80's, lipid bilayer membranes have been constantly developed as models of biological membranes with the ultimate goal to reincorporate membrane proteins for their functional investigation. In this review, after a brief description of the planar lipid bilayers as biomimetic membrane models, we will focus on the construction of the tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes, the most promising model for efficient membrane protein reconstitution and investigation of molecular processes occurring in cell membranes.