Template-imprinted nanostructured surfaces for protein recognition

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Abstract
Synthetic materials capable of selectively recognizing proteins are important in separations1, biosensors2 and the development of biomedical materials3,4,5. The technique of molecular imprinting creates specific recognition sites in polymers by using template molecules6,7,8,9. Molecular recognition is attributed to binding sites that complement molecules in size, shape and chemical functionality10. But attempts to imprint proteins have met with only limited success11,12,13,14,15. Here we report a method for imprinting surfaces with protein-recognition sites. We use radio-frequency glow-discharge plasma deposition to form polymeric thin films16 around proteins coated with disaccharide molecules. The disaccharides become covalently attached to the polymer film, creating polysaccharide-like cavities that exhibit highly selective recognition for a variety of template proteins, including albumin, immunoglobulin G, lysozyme, ribonuclease and streptavidin. Direct imaging of template recognition is achieved by patterning a surface at the micrometre scale with imprinted regions.