Cell membranes are essential for life, since they compartmentalize cells, the
basic unit of living matter, and mediate their symbiosis with the environment. In many
events in which cells participate, interaction with biomolecules such as
polysaccharides, proteins and peptides, is crucial. In spite of the developments in
physics, chemistry and biology in the last century, the study of cells and bioactive
biomolecules interacting “in vivo” is still elusive. Therefore, simplified models are
employed to obtain fundamental knowledge from these systems. In this chapter, the use
of Langmuir monolayers as cell membrane models made to interact with biomolecules
is described. Firstly, a brief introduction on the nature of nanostructured Langmuir
monolayers is provided. In particular, we describe technical aspects related to the
experimental setup and procedures to guide novice researchers in the field. We also
describe the fundamentals and possibilities of the most useful techniques applied to
film characterization. In the final section, examples are given of Langmuir monolayers
successfully employed to obtain relevant molecular-level information from systems
involving biomolecules. Trends in the field are discussed as motivation for innovative
research to bridge the gap between biology (and medicine) and the physicochemical
framework used in cell membrane modeling.
Keywords: Biomembrane Models, Biomolecules, Cell Membrane Interactions, Langmuir
Monolayers, Peptides and Polysaccharides, Proteins.
