Protein fishing with chips

Microarrays are widely used for DNA analysis, but use with proteins has been limited because early efforts did not allow deposition of proteins on arrays in a way that retained their 3-dimensional shapes and allowed test compounds to interact with the binding sites. But new approaches may mean that protein microarray experiments soon may be limited only by the cost of protein purification.

Harvard University researchers last week published, in Science, the use of DNA microarray robotics to generate high density microarrays of proteins on chemically derivatized glass slides (1600 spots/cm2). Proteins spotted on the slides were covalently attached to the slide surface but retained the ability to interact with proteins or small molecules in solution. ...