Protein Microarray Technology
Dev Kambhampati (Ed)
Weinheim: Wiley-VCH 2004 | Pp 243 | $135.00 | ISBN 3527305971
Reviewed by Michael Gross
The first commercial DNA microarray went on sale 10 years ago. Since then, the relatively straightforward production and handling of nucleic acid arrays, combined with its evident usefulness in applications like high throughput screening has made this technology a major success story. In the age of proteomics, it would of course be highly desirable to have the equivalent microarrays equipped with proteins to test for protein-protein interactions on a proteome-wide scale. Unfortunately, the fact that proteins are both chemically more diverse and more sensitive to environmental conditions than nucleic acids means that they are much more difficult to stick into a microarray. With the notable exception of antibodies, most kinds of proteins still present a major challenge to any array-style application.
Accordingly, this monograph of 10 chapters from different laboratories is a report on work in progress, more than an overview of achievements. It deals with a variety of techniques that are either leading towards, or vaguely located in, the neighbourhood of protein arrays.
Three chapters, including the longest one (covering 50 pages) deal with surface plasmon resonance detectors, two more cover readout methods, including cantilever sensors and image analysis.
The remaining five chapters include a general (and helpful) introduction, two about the surface chemistry required for arrays, and two about protein microarrays as such.
The heterogeneous nature of the collection may reflect the state of a field still struggling with basic technical problems. However, it makes for a book that would be hard to read from cover to cover. It will probably be most useful for those who want to get into the field and need a thorough briefing on the available methods and current challenges.
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