▪ Abstract In this review, recent advances in DNA microarray technology and their applications are examined. The many varieties of DNA microarray or DNA chip devices and systems are described along with their methods for fabrication and their use. This includes both high-density microarrays for high-throughput screening applications and lower-density microarrays for various diagnostic applications. The methods for microarray fabrication that are reviewed include various inkjet and microjet deposition or spotting technologies and processes, in situ or on-chip photolithographic oligonucleotide synthesis processes, and electronic DNA probe addressing processes. The DNA microarray hybridization applications reviewed include the important areas of gene expression analysis and genotyping for point mutations, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and short tandem repeats (STRs). In addition to the many molecular biological and genomic research uses, this review covers applications of microarray devices and sys...

DNA microarray technology: devices, systems, and applications.

Publisher Summary The electroactivity of nucleic acids was discovered several years ago. It was shown that at mercury electrodes, adenine and cytosine were reduced in ssDNA while guanine produced an anodic signal due to the oxidation of guanine reduction product. The DNA signals at mercury electrodes are highly sensitive to changes in DNA structure due to DNA denaturation and renaturation, as well as to minor structural changes resulting from DNA premelting and DNA damage. The changes in DNA structure are reflected not only by the DNA faradaic responses but also by non-faradaic signals due to adsorption/desorption of DNA. Several interesting principles have been used in the development of the DNA sensors—such as amplified electrochemical analysis, investigation of charge transport, and tracing of changes in conformation of DNA. The s ensors for DNA hybridization and DNA damage lead the field of the electrochemistry of nucleic acids. The chapter briefly summarizes some properties of the elimination voltammetry with linear scan (EVLS) method. Oscillographic polarography, at controlled alternating current, was used in the electrochemical analysis of nucleic acids.

Electrochemistry of nucleic acids.

Protein biochips are at the heart of many medical and bioanalytical applications. Increasing interest has been focused on surface activation and subsequent functionalization strategies for immobilizing these biomolecules. Different approaches using covalent and noncovalent chemistry are reviewed; particular emphasis is placed on the chemical specificity of protein attachment and on retention of protein function. Strategies for creating protein patterns (as opposed to protein arrays) are also outlined. An outlook on promising and challenging future directions for protein biochip research and applications is also offered.

Chemical Strategies for Generating Protein Biochips

https://home.ccr.cancer.gov/ncifdaproteomics/pdf/cancer_cell_protein_arrays.pdf

Protein microarrays: meeting analytical challenges for clinical applications.

Lu Shin Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Nottingham in 1997. He then practiced as a hospital pharmacist for four years while completing his postgraduate diploma in clinical pharmacy from the University of Bradford. Subsequently, he undertook his Ph.D. studies at the University of Southampton with Prof. Mark Bradley on solid-phase organic chemistry, microspectrometry, and solid-supported sensors. Upon completing this in 2005, he joined the Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre as a postdoctoral research associate with Prof. Jason Micklefield on the application of chemical biology to surface chemistry and biomolecular-array technologies. Lu Shin is currently an EPSRC Life Science Interface research fellow, and his interests include the combination of chemical biology, surface chemistry, and nanofabrication towards life science applications.
Biography
Farid Khan obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge (2004), where he studied the folding of GFP using fluorescence and NMR. Previously, he has worked for a number of years at GlaxoSmithKline in fluorescence assay development for drug discovery. He spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, where he codeveloped novel protein arrays from DNA arrays using cell free synthesis and characterized robust protein immobilization methods. He is currently employed at the University of Manchester as a Systems Biologist at the Manchester Centre of Integrative Systems Biology. His primary role is on the characterizing of enzymes in metabolic pathways, and he is a M.Sc. lecturer in Biotechnology and Enterprise. He is a founder of Lumophore Ltd., a consulting company specializing in applications of protein array technology.
Biography
Jason Micklefield graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1993 with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, working with Prof. Sir Alan R. Battersby to complete the first total synthesis of Haem d1. He then moved to the University of Washington, U.S.A., as a NATO postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Heinz G. Floss, investigating various biosynthetic pathways and enzyme mechanisms. In 1995 he began his independent research career as a Lecturer in Chemistry at Birkbeck College, University of London, before moving to Manchester in 1998, where he is now Chair of Chemical Biology. Prof. Micklefield?s research interests are at the chemistry?biology interface and include the redesign of nucleic acids, small-molecule control of gene expression, biosynthesis and biosynthetic engineering, nonribosomal peptides, biocatalysis, and enzyme mechanism.

Selective covalent protein immobilization: strategies and applications.

We have evaluated FASTslides, a glass slide with a microporous polymeric surface that is a suitable substrate for microarray technology. The surface is a nitrocellulose-based polymer that binds DNA...

https://www.future-science.com/doi/pdf/10.2144/00293pf01

FAST slides : A novel surface for microarrays

Expression microarray hybridization kinetics depend on length of the immobilized DNA but are independent of immobilization substrate.

High-throughput techniques for genomics and proteomics differ greatly from traditional bio-molecular research techniques in the amount of data that can be obtained from a given experiment. However, many of these novel techniques rely heavily on the traditional concepts of molecular immobilization followed by hybridization, binding or analysis. These concepts, which predate even traditional blotting techniques, have become so widely used that the complexity of their fundamental precepts is often overlooked. In this review, we explore the history and use of one of the most common immobilization surfaces, nitrocellulose. This unique polymer has been used as a surface in biological research for more than 6 decades, and continues to find utility in the post-genomic era with high-throughput techniques.

Nitrocellulose: a tried and true polymer finds utility as a post-genomic substrate.

The present invention relates to a novel device for separating plasma from a whole blood sample on a treated microporous membrane. An advantage of the present invention is that the sample can be assayed on the membrane after separation has occurred. A lateral flow chromatographic assay membrane has a sample application zone, a separation zone, and an analysis zone. An erythrocyte binding agent is added to the membrane in an amount sufficient to bind any erythrocytes present in the sample. Methods for using such devices are disclosed also.

Lateral flower plasma separation device

The present invention relates to methods for making a stable thin film dried protein composition on a surface that has a protein denaturing capability and related devices. A thin film of a biologically active protein containing solution to be dried is deposited on the support surface wherein the film also contains a buffer that maintains the surface pH between about 5.0 and 9.0 during drying under normal pressures and a saccharide in an amount sufficient to stabilize the protein while drying. An advantage of the present invention is that one can make thin film assay devices, such as proteomic microarrays, using supports that normally would not be useful. These supports include modified, chemically derivatized or coated glass substrates.

John L. Tonkinson

Papers

FAST slides : A novel surface for microarrays

Expression microarray hybridization kinetics depend on length of the immobilized DNA but are independent of immobilization substrate.

Nitrocellulose: a tried and true polymer finds utility as a post-genomic substrate.

Lateral flower plasma separation device

Stable thin film dried protein composition or device and related methods