Configurable Low-Cost Plotter Device for Fabrication of Multi-Color Sub-Cellular Scale Microarrays

We report on the construction and operation of a low-cost plotter for fabrication of microarrays for multiplexed single-cell analyses. The printing head consists of polymeric pyramidal pens mounted on a rotation stage installed on an aluminium frame. This construction enables printing of microarrays onto glass substrates mounted on a tilt stage, controlled by a Lab-View operated user interface. The plotter can be assembled by typical academic workshops from components of less than 15 000 Euro. The functionality of the instrument is demonstrated by printing DNA microarrays on the area of 0.5 squared centimeters using up to three different oligonucleotides. Typical feature sizes are 5 μm diameter with a pitch of 15 μm, leading to densities of up to 10(4) – 10(5) spots/squared millimeters. The fabricated DNA microarrays were used to produce subcellular scale arrays of bioactive epidermal growth factor peptides by means of DNAdirected immobilization. The suitability of these biochips for cell biological studies is demonstrated by specifi c recruitment, concentration and activation of EGF receptors within the plasma membrane of adherent living cells. Our work illustrates that the presented plotter gives access to bio-functionalized arrays usable for fundamental research in cell biology, such as the manipulation of signal pathways in living cells at subcellular resolution.