Computer-controlled laser ablation: a novel tool for biomolecular patterning

This paper describes a novel laser-based method for preparing microchannels in a bilayer system consisting of a UV sensitive polymer, acetophenone O-acryloyloxime (AAPO), layered with bovine serum albumin (BSA); BSA acts as a common blocking agent to prevent biomolecular attachment to the unexposed regions. The focus of the paper is on the use of a computer-controlled laser ablation system comprising a research-grade inverted optical microscope, a pulsed nitrogen laser emitting at 337 nm and a programmable X-Y-Z stage. By using a 100x oil immersion objective, channels of 1micrometers width and ca. 1 mm depth can be etched into the BSA-coated polymer. The precise width of the channel can be controlled by simply adjusting both the laser power and focusing. The addition of myosin to the base of these channels provides tracks on which actin filaments can move. By adjusting the width of the tracks, it is possible to regulate the direction of motion of the actin filaments.

[1]  M. Hatzakis,et al.  Electron Resists for Microcircuit and Mask Production , 1969 .

[2]  Masahiro Tsunooka,et al.  Photochemical reactions of polymers bearing O‐acryloxyimino groups in the solid phase. Effects of main‐chain structure on the formation of pendent amino groups , 1988 .

[3]  R. Brizzolara,et al.  Patterning multiple antibodies on polystyrene. , 2000, Biosensors & bioelectronics.

[4]  Hongyou Fan,et al.  Electrochemical Patterning of Self-Assembled Monolayers onto Microscopic Arrays of Gold Electrodes Fabricated by Laser Ablation , 1996 .

[5]  Leonard M. Tender,et al.  Fabrication of Microscopic Biosensor Arrays Without Microscopic Alignment , 1998 .

[6]  G. López,et al.  Computer‐Controlled Laser Ablation: A Convenient and Versatile Tool for Micropatterning Biofunctional Synthetic Surfaces for Applications in Biosensing and Tissue Engineering , 1998, Biotechnology progress.

[7]  Nicolas Mermod,et al.  Micropatterning of biomolecules on polymer substrates , 1998 .

[8]  George M. Whitesides,et al.  Generation of Micrometer-Sized Patterns for Microanalytical Applications Using a Laser Direct-Write Method and Microcontact Printing , 1998 .

[9]  Frank Jülicher,et al.  Acting on actin: the electric motility assay , 1999, European Biophysics Journal.

[10]  S. Mashiko,et al.  Control of actin moving trajectory by patterned poly(methylmethacrylate) tracks. , 1997, Biophysical journal.

[11]  Masamitsu Shirai,et al.  Photoacid and photobase generators: chemistry and applications to polymeric materials , 1996 .

[12]  D V Nicolau,et al.  Protein profiled features patterned via confocal microscopy. , 2000, Biosensors & bioelectronics.

[13]  Masahiro Tsunooka,et al.  Photo-initiated thermal crosslinking of copolymers bearing pendant base generating groups , 2000 .

[14]  Masahiro Tsunooka,et al.  Photo-initiated thermal cross-linking behavior of acetophenone O-acryloyloxime-methyl methacrylate copolymer films in the presence of quinones , 2000 .

[15]  N. Dontha,et al.  Generation of biotin/avidin/enzyme nanostructures with maskless photolithography. , 1997, Analytical chemistry.

[16]  Masamitsu Shirai,et al.  Image formation by dyeing of copolymers bearing photogenerated acid and base groups with dye bath containing acid and basic dyes , 2000 .

[17]  R. Srinivasan,et al.  UV Laser Ablation of Polymers , 1987 .

[18]  S. P. Fodor,et al.  Light-directed, spatially addressable parallel chemical synthesis. , 1991, Science.

[19]  Roberto Sastre,et al.  O-ACYL-α-OXOOXIMES AND RELATED COMPOUNDS. CHEMISTRY, PHOTOCHEMISTRY, AND USE AS PHOTOINITIATORS FOR RADICAL POLYMERIZATIONS , 1995 .