Lab talk
Feb 26, 2013
Electron beam lithography scheme suits tobacco mosaic virus
Researchers at the CIC nanoGUNE Consolider (Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain) and CEMES-CNRS (Toulouse, France) have shown that tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is compatible with electron beam lithography (eBL) – an important and versatile method for patterning samples on the nanoscale.
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is a textbook example of a virus, and also of a self-assembling nanoscale structure. This tubular RNA/protein architecture has found applications as a biotemplate for the synthesis of nanomaterials such as wires, tubes and nanoparticle assemblies.
In their latest study, the scientists have presented adjusted eBL-compatible processes that allow the incorporation of TMV in nanostructures made of positive and negative tone eBL resists. The key steps involve covering TMV with polymer resists, avoiding temperatures above 50 °C, and development (selective dissolution) in carefully selected organic solvents.
To demonstrate the post-lithography biochemical functionality of TMV, the scientists performed selective immunocoating of the viral particles with primary and with secondary gold-labelled antibodies, and used immobilized TMV as a direct immunosensor.
Full details can be found in the journal Nanotechnology.
About the author
The study was conducted by members of the Self-Assembly Group at CIC nanoGUNE Consolider (Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) and of the Nanosciences Group at CEMES-CNRS (Toulouse, France). José María Alonso was a nanoGUNE fellow until September 2012. Currently, he is a researcher in the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Alexander M Bittner is Ikerbasque Research Professor and Group Leader of the Self-Assembly Group at nanoGUNE. Thierry Ondarçuhu is a directeur de recherche CNRS in the Nanosciences Group at CEMES. This research was performed in the framework of the Projects “Nanofluid” and “Nanofluidics in Biomolecular Tubes” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity and the Department of Education, Language Policy and Culture of the Basque Government, respectively. Financial support from C´Nano GSO (France) is also acknowledged.
