title: Nano-mechanical transduction of polymer micro-cantilevers to detect bio-molecular interactions.
abstract: Using variothermal polymer micro-injection molding, disposable arrays of eight polymer micro-cantilevers each 500 μm long, 100 μm wide and 25 μm thick were fabricated. The present study took advantage of an easy flow grade polypropylene. After gold coating for optical read-out and asymmetrical sensitization, the arrays were introduced into the Cantisens(®) Research system to perform mechanical and functional testing. We demonstrate that polypropylene cantilevers can be used as biosensors for medical purposes in the same manner as the established silicon ones to detect single-stranded DNA sequences and metal ions in real-time. A differential signal of 7 nm was detected for the hybridization of 1 μM complementary DNA sequences. For 100 nM copper ions the differential signal was found to be (36 ± 5) nm. Nano-mechanical sensing of medically relevant, nanometer-size species is essential for fast and efficient diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Science Center, University of Basel, c/o University Hospital, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Prabitha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Urwyler
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Köser
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schift
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gobrecht
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007477:Ions / Q000032:analysis; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis; D055617:Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D011126:Polypropylenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D007477:Ions; D008670:Metals; D011126:Polypropylenes