AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Biomaterial Interfaces Thursday Sessions
       Session BI+AS+NS-ThA

Paper BI+AS+NS-ThA10
Fabrication of Protein Patterns by Direct Electron-Beam Writing in a Protein-Repelling Template

Thursday, November 12, 2009, 5:00 pm, Room K

Session: Micro and Nanoengineering of Biointerfaces I
Presenter: M. Zharnikov, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Authors: N. Ballav, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
H. Thomas, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany
T. Winkler, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany
A. Terfort, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany
M. Zharnikov, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Correspondent: Click to Email
One of the challenges of modern nanotechnology is the development of reliable, efficient, and flexible methods for the fabrication of ordered and complex patterns comprised of different proteins. An essential element of almost all available approaches is a protein-repelling “background” matrix, surrounding the active protein-adsorbing areas – the matrix prevents adsorption of proteins beyond these areas. Such a matrix is usually comprised of oligo- or poly(ethylene glycol)-based materials and is generally prepared by a backfilling procedure after the fabrication of the protein-attracting patterns. We present an alternative approach, showing that the protein-repelling matrix, both SAM- and polymer-like, can be used as a primary template for direct electron-beam writing of both non-specific and specific protein patterns of any desirable shape, including gradient ones, on a flexible length scale. The above factors make the approach quite versatile, which is additionally strengthened by intrinsic flexibility of electron-beam lithography, a wide range of suitable electron energies, broad availability of commercial oligoethylene glycol compounds, variable substrate material, and flexible choice of the target proteins. Complex gradient patterns fabricated by the suggested approach can become an important tool for mimicking natural biological interfaces which frequently possess gradient character – a typical way of encoding and displaying directional biological information.