Electroactive nanoarrays for biospecific ligand mediated studies of cell adhesion

Dip-pen nanolithography was used to form arrays of nanometer-sized spots of an electroactive hydroquinone-terminated alkanethiol on gold substrates. Two different affinity adhesive ligands, linear Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) and cyclic RGD, were immobilized by this method, and the effects of ligand affinity on the focal adhesions within the fibroblast cells were compared and analyzed.