Laser-Directed Deposition of Mannan-Functionalized Silver Nanostructures

Abstract

Mannan is a polymannose isolated from the cell wall of Saccaromyces cerevisiae and has strong binding affinity to mannose receptors on antigen presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells and macrophages. Mannan-functionalized nanomaterials or nanostructures are thus of high interests in studying immune responses towards fungi. In this work, we investigated the fabrication of mannan-coated silver nanostructures using a laser-deposition technique. Specifically, two different starting materials were applied for laser-deposition. One is a mixture solution of AgNO3 and mannan, and the other one is the suspension of silver nanoparticles synthesized with mannan as the sole reducing and capping agent. Using 405 nm diode laser in a confocal microscope, we successfully fabricated mannan-covered micropatterns by laser-induced photoreduction of silver ions or aggregation of mannan-capped AgNPs. The results show that both starting materials can be applied to deposit micro- or nanoscaled structures that are covered with mannan, which was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. These silver nanostructure-supported mannan patterns are promising candidates to mimic the fungal membrane and beneficial for immune cell studies.