We have developed a photonic technology that allows for precise immobilisation of proteins to sensor
surfaces. The technology secures spatially controlled molecular immobilisation since the coupling of each
molecule to a support surface can be limited to the focal point of the UV laser beam, with dimensions as
small as a few micrometers. The ultimate size of the immobilized spots is dependent on the focal area of
the UV beam. The technology involves light induced formation of free, reactive thiol groups in molecules
containing aromatic residues nearby disulphide bridges. It is not only limited to immobilizing molecules
according to conventional patterns like microarrays, as any bitmap motif can virtually be used a template
for patterning. We now show that molecules (proteins) can be immobilized on a surface with any arbitrary
pattern according to diffraction patterns of light. The pattern of photo-immobilized proteins reproduces the
diffraction pattern of light expected with the optical setup. Immobilising biomolecules according to
diffraction patterns of light will allow achievement of smaller patterns with higher resolution. The
flexibility of this new technology leads to any patterns of photo-imprinted molecules, with micrometer
resolution, thus being of relevance for present and future applications in nanotechnologies.
We present a new photonic technology and demonstrate that it allows for precise immobilisation of biomolecules to
sensor surfaces. The technology secures spatially controlled molecular immobilisation since immobilisation of each
molecule to a support surface can be limited to the focal point of the ultraviolet (UV) beam, as small as a few
micrometers. We can immobilise molecules according to any pattern, from classical microarrays to diffraction patterns
creating unique watermarking safety patterns. Given that suitable protein markers exists for all relevant diseases it is
entirely feasible to test for a range of disease indicators (antigens and other markers) in a single test. Few micrometer
spotsize allows for a virtually unlimited number of protein spots in a multipotent microarray. This new technology
produces radically new photonics based microarray sensing technology and watermarking and has clear potential for
biomedical, bioelectronic, surface chemistry, security markers production, nanotechnology and therapeutical
applications. We also show an in depth analyses of the immobilized patterns and of the microarrays with our software
BNIP Pro.
Photonic induced immobilization of biosensor molecules is a novel technology that results in spatially oriented and
spatially localized covalent coupling of a large variety of biomolecules onto thiol reactive surfaces, e.g. thiolated glass,
quartz, gold or silicon. The reaction mechanism behind the reported new technology involves light-induced breakage of
disulphide bridges in proteins upon UV illumination of nearby aromatic amino acids resulting in the formation of reactive
molecules that will form covalent bonds with thiol reactive surfaces. This new technology has the potential of replacing
present micro dispensing arraying technologies, where the size of the individual sensor spots are limited by the size of the
dispensed droplets. Using light-induced immobilization the spatial resolution is defined by the area of the sensor surface
that is illuminated by UV light and not by the physical size of the dispensed droplets of sensor molecules. This new
technology allows for dense packing of different biomolecules on a surface, allowing the creation of multi-potent
functionalized materials, such as biosensors with micrometer sized individual sensor spots. Thus, we have developed the
necessary technology for preparing large protein arrays of enzymes and fragments of antibodies, with micrometer
resolution, without the need for liquid micro dispensing.
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