Claims
- 1. A method for patterning a surface to promote the patterned attachment of a target adherent, comprising the steps of:
providing a stamp having raised and recessed portions, the raised portions having lateral sides; providing an adhesion inhibitory type of molecule and an adhesion promoting type of molecule, the adhesion inhibitory type of molecule having an adhesion property that inhibits the adhesion of the target adherent thereto, the adhesion promoting type of molecule having an adhesion property that promotes the adhesion of the target adherent thereto, the adhesion inhibitory type of molecule having an adhesion property complementary to the adhesion promoting type of molecule, inking the raised portions of the stamp with a first type of molecule, the first type of molecule having either an adhesion inhibitory property or an adhesion promoting property; stamping the surface with the stamp; flowing a second type of molecule through selected openings, the selected openings being defined by selected portions of the surface, selected recessed portions of the stamp, and selected lateral sides of the raised portions of the stamp, wherein the second type of molecule has an adhesion property complementary to that of the first type of molecule; removing the stamp.
- 2. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the step of flowing a second type of molecule through selected openings is to be done without realigning the stamp.
- 3. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
flowing a cleaning solution through the selected openings, the flowing of the cleaning solution being done prior to the flowing of the second type of molecule.
- 4. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
estimating if the amount of spreading of the first type of molecule to the selected portions of the surface exceeds an allowable tolerance; flowing a cleaning solution through the selected openings if the amount of spreading of the first type of molecule to the selected portions of the surface is estimated to exceed the allowable tolerance, the flowing of the cleaning solution being done prior to the flowing of the second type of molecule.
- 5. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 4, wherein the step of estimating if the amount of spreading of the first type of molecule to the selected portions of the surfaces exceeds an allowable tolerance involves determining the smallest distance along the surface of any of the selected openings.
- 6. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 5, wherein if the smallest distance along the surface of any of the selected openings is less than 20 microns, the amount of spreading of the first type of molecule to the selected portions of the surfaces is estimated to exceed the allowable tolerance.
- 7. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
increasing the hydrophilicity of the stamp prior to the inking step.
- 8. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 7, wherein the step of increasing the hydrophilicity of the stamp is accomplished by exposing the stamp to an oxygen plasma.
- 9. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of exposing the surface covered with first and second types of molecules to the target adherent.
- 10. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of selectively growing the target adherent to portions of the surface covered with adhesion promoting molecules.
- 11. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the molecules having the adhesion inhibitory property are chosen from the group of: polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, and bovine serum albumin.
- 12. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the type of molecules having the adhesion promoting property are proteins.
- 13. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the type of molecules having the adhesion promoting property are chosen from the group of: poly-D-lysine, laminin, and fibronectin.
- 14. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the target adherent comprises a biological cell.
- 15. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
treating the surface with a crosslinking molecule prior to the step of stamping the surface.
- 16. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 15, wherein the crosslinking molecule is gluaraldehyde.
- 17. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 15, wherein the crosslinking molecule is sulfo-GMBS.
- 18. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the surface is a glass.
- 19. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, wherein the surface is a plastic.
- 20. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
drying the stamp after inking the raised portion of the stamp with a first type of molecule but prior to stamping the surface with the stamp.
- 21. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
flowing a cleaning solution through the selected openings, the flowing of the cleaning solution being done after the flowing of the second type of molecule.
- 22. The method for patterning a surface, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
drying the surface after flowing a second type of molecule through selected openings but prior to removing the stamp.
- 23. A surface patterner for applying to a surface an adhesion inhibitory type of molecule adjacent to an adhesion promoting type of molecule, the adhesion inhibitory type of molecule having an adhesion property that inhibits the adhesion of a target adherent thereto, the adhesion promoting type of molecule having an adhesion property that promotes the adhesion of the target adherent thereto, the adhesion inhibitory type of molecule having an adhesion property complementary to the adhesion promoting type of molecule, the surface patterner comprising:
a stamp having raised and recessed portions, the raised portions having lateral sides, the raised portions being capable of being inked with a first type of molecule, the first type of molecule having either an adhesion inhibitory property or an adhesion promoting property; a means for flowing a second type of molecule through selected openings without realigning the stamp, the selected openings being defined by selected portions of the surface, selected recessed portions of the stamp, and selected lateral sides of the raised portions of the stamp, wherein the second type of molecule has an adhesion property complementary to that of the first type of molecule.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priorty under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. provisional application 60/406126 filed Aug. 26, 2002, entitled Selective and Alignment-Free Molecular Patterning of Surfaces, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60406126 |
Aug 2002 |
US |