Photo-dynamic conversion of solid surface from protein-phobic to protein-philic byfemtosecond laser through in situmicrofabrication

The regulation of proteins adsorption on solid surface is crucial to the development of devices for micro total analysis system ( μ TAS). This study is aiming for the dynamic surface conversion on a solid platform through laser-assisted ablation in aqueous solution. When femtosecond laser pulses (800 nm, 1 kHz, 200-500 nJ/pulse) was focused on the glass platform coated with protein-phobic polymers, the resulting ablation would reveal the bare glass surface that is protein-philic. Since the conversion would allow patterning of proteins under aqueous conditions, including physiologically buffered one, the method is suitable for pattering functional proteins with minimal damage. We have successfully applied the method in patterning extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and culturing living cells on the patterned surface in a controlled spatiotemporal manner according to the designed pattern. We believe the method will uniquely contribute to the development of functional protein based cytology devices.