Reactive Microcontact Printing of DNA Probes on (DMA-NAS-MAPS) Copolymer-Coated Substrates for Efficient Hybridization Platforms

High-performing hybridization platforms fabricated by reactive microcontact printing of DNA probes are presented. Multishaped PDMS molds are used to covalently bind oligonucleotides over a functional copolymer (DMA-NAS-MAPS) surface. Printed structures with minimum width of about 1.5 mu m, spaced by 10 mu m, are demonstrated, with edge corrugation lower than 300 nm. The quantification of the immobilized surface probes via fluorescence imaging gives a remarkable concentration of 3.3 X 103 oligonudeotides/mu m(2), almost totally active when used as probes in DNA-DNA hybridization assays. Indeed, fluorescence and atomic force microscopy show a 95% efficiency in target binding and uniform DNA hybridization over printed areas.