Off-array Synthesis and Spotting

A common drawback of glass slides as supports for chemical microarrays, as well as of cellulose or polypropylene sheets, is the protein compatibility of fheir respective surface chemistries. It is inherently difficult to render polypropylene or silanated glass resistant to unspecific protein adsorption and is even more challenging to control a critical parameter such as ligand density on fhese polymers. 

For instance, engineering for biocompatibility of resins used in organic synthesis has become a major challenge for bead-binding assay screens [62]. 

In our laboratories, we developed a proprietary SAM technology comprising a functionalized anchor molecule diluted with unfunctionalized spacer molecules. 

After quality assessment, nanoliter amounts are transferred from the mother plates onto the surfaces of microarrays coated with the reactive mixed SAM. High-precision spotting of the substances in a custom-built automated environment ensures reproducible immobilization of the compounds onto the microarrays. 

---