Simultaneous OWLS and EIS monitoring of supported lipid bilayers with the pore forming peptide melittin

A simultaneous optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement was carried out for the investigation of a supported lipid bilayer and its interactions with a pore-forming peptide, melittin. It was achieved only after the optimization of the ITO coating on the waveguide to increase the electrical sensitivity and the functionalization of the waveguide with a polyelectrolyte to form a lipid bilayer over the ITO surface. The combined system enabled monitoring of melittin pore activities in a wider range of melittin concentrations than either technique alone (1 μg/ml < Cmelittin < 200 μg/ml). Furthermore, it provided unique information that could not be obtained by the individual methods, such as a better identification of the melittin-pore formation and an insight about the correlation between the total pore area vs. adsorbed amount of melittin.