Protein Confinement in the Anodic Porous Alumina Microarray

Abstract

Alternative approaches to solve the complexity of protein function in the proteomic field required new arrays in nano-micro-scale dimension. Anodic Porous Alumina (APA), a geometrically ordered inorganic oxide, grown from ultrapure aluminum by anodic oxidation, was used in this work as an ordered array for the confinement of protein molecules by spin-coating technique. This microor nanostructured material can be used in different ways, both for the traditional fluorescence approach and for novel label-free methods. The aim of the present study is the proof of principle that the protein molecules can enter the APA micropores, as shown by fluorescein-labeled lysozyme confined into the APA template. Fluorescence intensity measurement as well as Raman Spectroscopy confirm that protein was incorporated into the APA micropores.