Protein patterning by maskless photolithography on hydrophilic polymer-grafted surface

With the help of a microfabrication process and surface modification technology, a method of fabricating protein patterned chips was developed which can be utilized as a powerful tool for performing bioassays in a high-throughput manner. A digital micromirror array (MMA) system was used as a virtual photomask, so that a maskless photolithography process was able to be used to build patterned biomolecules on a chip by selective illumination onto the chip surface. We utilized the nitroveratryloxycarbonyl (NVOC) group as a photolabile protecting group for protein patterning. The NVOC-protected surface was selectively irradiated by a UV illuminator using an MMA. After removing the NVOC group, biotin was coupled to the NVOC-cleaved site, onto which a buffered streptavidin solution was eluted. At this point, we could obtain a streptavidin-patterned surface and observe the effect of the polymer-grafted surface in reducing nonspecific binding.