Micropatterning of proteins using dewetting

The ability to control protein and cell positioning on a microscopic scale is crucial in many biomedical and bioengineering applications, such as tissue engineering and development of biosensors. We propose here a novel micro-patterning technique that does not require templates, molds or stencils and is based on patterning polymer films bilayers by dewetting processes, followed by the selective adsorption of proteins from buffer solutions. Evidence is obtained by fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) that proteins adsorb preferentially on isolated bio-adhesive micro-patches in a protein-resistant background. The surface density of proteins inside the adhesive islands can be tailored by varying the concentration of the protein solutions employed. Furthermore, the method can also easily produce inverse patterns, containing non-fouling islands in a protein-adhesive matrix. The produced micropatterned substrates should prove useful to studies in biosensor and bioassay development and as substrates to study growth and motility in cell cultures.