Whereas DNA is a robust molecule, easy to amplify and spot onto slides, proteins are difficult to manufacture in quantity, and are prone to denaturing when applied to substrates. However, recent breakthroughs in coating techniques and at least one newly introduced product are making protein microarray technology a reality.
In a recent publication, Gavin MacBeath and Stuart L. Schreiber of Harvard University described a promising approach, in which they coated glass slides with bovine serum albumin (BSA).1 Tiny droplets of protein solution were applied by robot and the proteins were anchored to the BSA by cross-reacting lysines. Other researchers have tried similar microarray coating techniques with equal success.2
A new product from Packard Bioscience of Meriden, Conn., though, could make the laborious coating process obsolete. Packard's HydroGel™ slides are coated with a proprietary formulation of polyacrylamide, similar to that used in gel electrophoresis. Nanoliter-sized droplets of protein solution are applied ...
