Aligned microcontact printing of biomolecules on microelectronic device surfaces

Microcontact printing (/spl mu/CP) of extracellular matrix proteins is a fascinating approach to control cell positioning and outgrowth, which is essential in the development of applications ranging from cellular biosensors to tissue engineering. Microelectronic devices can be used to detect the activity from a large number of recording sites over the long term. However, signals from cells can only be recorded at small sensitive spots. Here, the authors present an innovative setup to perform aligned /spl mu/CP of extracellular matrix proteins on microelectronic devices in order to guide the growth of electrogenic cells specifically to these sensitive spots. The authors' system is based on t…