Controlling the Number of Proteins with Dip‐Pen Nanolithography

Abstract

Desired numbers of proteins can be positioned on surfaces by using dip‐pen nanolithography (DPN). Ferritin nanoarrays are fabricated by direct‐writing nanodroplets of a ferritin solution on TEM surfaces. After the contact‐angle value of these droplets is determined, the concentration of the inking protein solution and the diameter of the dot‐like feature can be modulated to position a single ferritin particle on a surface (see figure).

Sample Preparation for Inorganic Trace Element Analysis

“…Capillarity transport of the MNPs from the tip to the surface via a water meniscus enables the successful deposition of small collections of molecules in submicrometer dimensions 119 . Bellido et al 120 showed that this technique can be applied to the deposition of dot-like features containing monolayer arrangements of ferritin-based molecules onto microSQUID sensors [ Fig. 16(a)] for magnetic susceptibility measurements 121 (section IV C).…”

“…16(a)] for magnetic susceptibility measurements 121 (section IV C). The number of MNPs deposited per dot can be controlled (via the concentration of the ferritin solution and dot size) from several hundred of proteins down to individual ones 120 . Recently, DPN has also been applied to the deposition of dot-like features containing just 3−5 molecular layers of Mn 12 and Dy 2 SMMs onto the active areas of microSQUID-based susceptometers, enabling the detection of their magnetic susceptibility 122,123 [ Fig.…”

Adsorption mechanisms of l-Glutathione on Au and controlled nano-patterning through Dip Pen Nanolithography

“…Through all these, dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) is a direct-write printing technique of lithography that involves the coating of an atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever tip with the desired chemical ink and patterned on a variety of substrates for creating and functionalizing nanoscale devices [6,7]. This technique has evolved to embrace a wide range of tip-based nanofabrication applications, including new ink combinations from polymers [8], small molecules [9,10], biomolecules [11], dendrimers [12], solid state materials [13], DNA [14], proteins [15,16], colloidal particles [17], sols [18], fluorescent dyes [19] and new substrates ranging from metals [20][21][22] to semiconductors [23] and insulators [20] or organic thin films [24]. The various chemical approaches and the systems in which they have been applied are strongly dependent on the deposition processes, including the chemical properties of the ink molecules and the chemical nature of the tip/substrate [25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

Nanoscale positioning of inorganic nanoparticles using biological ferritin arrays fabricated by dip‐pen nanolithography

“…For instance, many kinds of nanoparticles, such as cobalt (Tsukamoto et al 2005), manganese (Meldrum et al 1995), indium (Okuda et al 2005a,b), nickel and chromium oxide (Okuda et al 2003), cadmium (Yamashita et al 2004) and zinc selenide , and cadmium sulphur (Iwahori and Yamashita 2008), with potential magnetic, catalytic and biomedical applications have been biomineralized in the cavity. In addition, we have recently shown that it is possible to control the number of ferritin particles placed on a nanoarray fabricated by DPN (Bellido et al 2009). Because of all these characteristics, ferritin protein was chosen as an excellent model scaffold to show how the ability of DPN to direct-write proteins can be used to guide and position inorganic nanoparticles in the context of large arrays on surfaces.…”