KIP-Veröffentlichungen

Microchips are used in the combinatorial synthesis of peptide arrays by means of amino
acid microparticle deposition. The surface of custom-built microchips can be equipped
with an amino-modified poly(ethylene glycol)methacrylate (PEGMA) graft polymer
coating, which permits high loading of functional groups and resists nonspecific protein
adsorption. Specific microparticles that are addressed to the polymer-coated microchip
surface in a well defined pattern release preactivated amino acids upon melting, and
thus allow combinatorial synthesis of high-complexity peptide arrays directly on the
chip surface. Currently, arrays with densities of up to 40,000 peptide spots/cm2 can be
generated in this way, with a minimum of coupling cycles required for full combinatorial
synthesis. Without using any additional blocking agent, specific peptide recognition has
been verified by background-free immunostaining on the chip-based array. This unit
describes microchip surface modification, combinatorial peptide array synthesis on the
chip, and a typical immunoassay employing the resulting high-density peptide arrays.