Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.11.16.384958v1?rss=1 Authors: Blosser, M. C., So, J., Madani, M. S., Malmstadt, N. Abstract: Determining the permeability of lipid membranes to gases is important for understanding the biological mechanisms of gas transport. Experiments on model membranes have been used to determine the permeability of lipid bilayers in the absence of proteins. Previous measurements have used a number of different methods and obtained widely varying results. We have developed a microfluidic based microscopy assay that measures the rate of CO2 permeation in Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs), and we report permeability data for the POPC-cholesterol system. We find that cholesterol has a strong effect on permeability; bilayers containing high levels of cholesterol are an order of magnitude less permeable than bilayers without cholesterol, 9.9 {+/-} 1.0 x 10-4 cm/s vs. 9.6 {+/-} 1.4 x 10-3 cm/s. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info