It was found that the exchange method for the preparation of lipid-membrane-incorporated guest molecules was applicable not only to fullerenes but also to other hydrophobic molecules such as azobenzene and stilbene. Advantages of this method are that the long-term stability of lipid-membrane-incorporated azobenzene solution and the maximum ratio of [stilbene]/[lipid] were higher than those prepared by the classical method, which we call the ‘premixing method’. Photoisomerisations of these photochromic guest molecules in the lipid membranes maintained the morphology of liposomes.

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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Grant No. 25288037), a Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (Grant Nos. 24655128 and 25650053) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (Grant No. 24681028).