Protein patterning by micromachined silicon embossing on polymer surfaces

An automated method for creating micron-sized patterns of different proteins is described. Unlike other methods, the process requires no masks, photochemichal reagents, or alignment. The basic tools are a motorized x–y stage, a pneumatic drive, and a micromachined silicon chip with an array of micron scale pyramids. Upon pressing the chip on a plastic slide, inverted pyramids are created on the polymer surface, exposing areas that have no previous coating and can adsorb proteins. The method is suitable for the fast and inexpensive fabrication of dense arrays of different proteins on appropriate substrates.