Abstract: An entirely new means of printing molecular information on a planar film, involving casting nanoscale impressions of the template protein molecules in molten gallium, is presented here for the first time. The metallic imprints not only replicate the shape and size of the proteins used as template. They also show specific binding for the template species. Such a simple approach to the creation of antibody-like properties in metallic mirrors can lead to applications in separations, microfluidic devices, and the development of new optical and electronic sensors, and will be of interest to chemists, materials scientists, analytical specialists, and electronic engineers
Template and target information: protein, horseradish peroxidase, HRP, bovine serum albumin, BSA, RNA polymerase, urease from Jack Bean, DNA-binding proteins from starved Escherichia coli cells, Dps
Author keywords: Protein imprint, Nanoscale impressions, metal, Gallium, sensing, Recognition