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Microcontact Printing of Substrate-Bound Protein Patterns for Cell and Tissue Culture

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Neural Development

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1018))

Abstract

Patterned distributions of signalling molecules play fundamental roles during embryonic development. Several attempts have been made to reproduce these patterns in vitro. In order to study substrate-bound or membrane proteins, microcontact printing (μCP) is a suitable method for tethering molecules on various surfaces. Here, we describe three μCP variants to produce patterns down to feature sizes of about 300 nm, which are highly variable with respect to shape, protein spacing, and density. Briefly, the desired pattern is etched into a silicon master, which is then used as a master for the printing process. Each variant offers certain advantages and the method of choice depends on the desired protein and the biological question.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation, DFG (grant BA 1034/14-3). The authors thank Franco Weth for helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Neurobiology, Zoological Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Martin Fritz & Martin Bastmeyer

  2. DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Martin Bastmeyer

Authors
  1. Martin Fritz
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  2. Martin Bastmeyer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Frelinghuysen Road 164, Piscataway, 08854, New Jersey, USA

    Renping Zhou

  2. , Inst. Molecular Medicine & Genetics, Georgia Health Sciences University, 15th Street 1120, Augusta, 30912, Georgia, USA

    Lin Mei

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Fritz, M., Bastmeyer, M. (2013). Microcontact Printing of Substrate-Bound Protein Patterns for Cell and Tissue Culture. In: Zhou, R., Mei, L. (eds) Neural Development. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1018. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-444-9_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-444-9_23

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-443-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-444-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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