Emory U. buys NanoInk system to quantify forces

NanoInk’s NanoFabrication Systems Division, of Skokie, said Emory University recently purchased a Dip Pen Nanolithography system to quantify the forces exerted by single receptor molecules in real time across entire cells or tissues.

Dip Pen Nanolithography is a direct write, tip-based lithography technique capable of multicomponent deposition of a wide range of materials in nanoscale. Emory University is located in Atlanta, Ga. and is recognized internationally for its outstanding liberal arts college and as one of the nation’s leading research universities.

“We are very excited about coupling Dip Pen Nanolithography with our newly developed method for force sensing to directly print nanoscale arrays of tension sensors,” said Khalid Salaita, assistant professor of Chemistry at Emory University. “One of the biggest questions in the field of mechano-transduction pertains to the role of receptor clustering in force transmission.

“We plan on addressing this question by investigating the integrin, Notch, and EGF receptors using this hybrid nanotechnology-biophysics approach in living cells,” Salaita added. “I have used Dip Pen Nanolithography for almost a decade now and I’m confident that it will allow us to push the frontiers of understanding the mechano-chemistry of cells.”

Tom Warwick, NanoInk’s general manager of NanoInk’s NanoFabrication Systems Division added, “We look forward to seeing the innovations and breakthroughs that will soon come from Khalid Salaita and his team at Emory University using the high-throughput afforded by 2D DPN and Polymer Pen Lithography techniques.”

Professor Salaita and Yoshie Narui, his graduate student, previously used Dip Pen Nanolithography to develop a new method for controlling ligand spatial organization that holds potential for investigating supramolecular protein assemblies in living cells.