We present a novel bonding technique for poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based devices employing chemical surface modifications at room temperature. PDMS surfaces were functionalized to present primary amine groups, and glass or gold substrates were functionalized to present carboxylic acid groups. Irreversible bonding was achieved by bringing the two surfaces in contact and reacting at room temperature to form peptide bonds between the substrates. Shear tests reveal the bond strengths achieved to be comparable to values obtained using conventional bonding methods. We also describe the use of carboxyl-terminated silanes on gold surfaces to bond amine-modified PDMS devices. Water contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the conjugation, a novel result that expands the variety of surface chemistries available for such bonding.

We propose that expression and outer segment mislocalization of the disease-linked 5-base-pair deletion mutant ELOVL4 protein alters photoreceptor structure and function, which subsequently results in retinal degeneration, and suggest three possible mechanisms by which mutant ELOVL4 may induce retinal degeneration in STGD3.

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