Laser trapping and patterning of protein microcrystals: Toward highly integrated protein microarrays

Some insect virus infections occlude into a crystalline matrix consisting of a protein named polyhedrin. The shape of the matrix is a cubic polyhedron of the size of a few micrometers. Recently it was shown that these polyhedra could immobilize various functional proteins within them. Therefore, the polyhedron is interesting as an element in a protein chip. In this work, individual polyhedra were arrayed and bonded under a microscope by focused laser beams, with the aim of fabricating a highly integrated protein chip. The polyhedron was trapped and transferred to a suitable position on a polymer substrate by optical trapping with a 1064nmNd3+:YAG (YAG, yttrium aluminum garnet) laser. To bond the polyhedron on the substrate, the polymer surface was mechanically and chemically modified by multiphoton absorption of a 120fs, 800nm femtosecond Ti: sapphire laser, which results in strong adhesion of the polyhedron to the substrate. The arraying and bonding of polyhedra were successful, to a precision of about 1...