Northwestern University

Karlsruher Institut Fur Technologie

Rafael Vega

Chad A Mirkin

Steven Lenhert

Khalid Salaita

Ling Huang

Daniel Maspoch

Better patterning methods, including for better methods for forming biomolecular arrays, including a method comprising: providing a tip and a substrate surface, disposing a patterning composition at the end of the tip, depositing at least some of the patterning composition from the tip to the substrate surface to form a deposit disposed on the substrate surface, wherein the patterning composition comprises at least one lipid, optionally at least one solvent, and at least one patterning species different from the lipid and the optional solvent. The lipid can be a phospholipid such as DOPC. The patterning species can be an oligonucleotide or a protein. Microarrays and nanoarrays can be prepared including nanoscale resolution of deposits. The lipid can activate patterning or increase the rate of patterning. Simplified tip preparation can be achieved. Nanoscopic, SPM, and AFM tips can be used.

Patterning with compositions comprising lipid

A nanoarray template utilizing coordination chemistry or metal ion binding to control the site-isolation and orientation of virus particles is provided. The nanoarray template is generated by lithography including Dip Pen Nanolithography. The surface chemistry that is inherent in many viruses, metal-ion based or inorganic coordination chemistry is used to immobilize individual virus particles without the need for their genetic modification. Single particle control enables a wide variety of studies involving viruses that are not possible with microarrays, including single particle, single cell infectivity studies, exploration of such structures as templates in materials synthesis and molecular electronics, and studies aimed at understanding how surface presentation influences their bioactivity. This is an example of such control at the single-particle level, and therefore, commercial use of nanoarrays in biological systems.

Nanoarrays of single virus particles, methods and instrumentation for the fabrication and use thereof

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Evanston, IL, United States of America

Rafael Vega