Development of Protein Microarray Chip Technology: An Outlook towards Proteomics and Diagnostics

One attractive method for monitoring biomolecular interactions in a highly parallel fashion is the use of microarrays. Microarrays can be applied for screening proteins which makes it an attractive tool in clinical diagnostics, drug discovery studies and basic protein research; even though many methodological challenges and ones relating to the quality control of microarrays still need to be solved. This thesis is based upon seven original papers presenting our effort in the development of new protein microarray chip technology. The development of a novel 3D platform for protein characterization based on porous silicon is reported. The fabrication of the novel porous chips is scaled up and stability of the developed supports as well as the fluorescent bioassay reproducibility and data quality issues are addressed. The comparison of the developed 3D substrates with existing and commercially available substrates for protein microarraying is also studied. In the framework of the given thesis an effort to link protein microarrays with MALDI MS was also performed suggesting porous silicon as a convenient platform for on-surface protein digestion protocols. During the study period the superhydrophobic states on macroporous silicon has also been discovered and reported for the first time. The adjustment of porous morphology and geometry can suggest a convenient way to control wetting behavior of the microarray substrates and gives an interesting insight to the surface role in bioassays performance.