Development and current situation in antibody microarray

DNA arrays have been successfully used for gene expression profiling of cells at the mRNA level. However, it has certain limitations: since there is not always a direct correlation between mRNA levels and protein expression (Gygi etal, 1999). Gene expression profiling may not represent the actual cellular proteome. Antibody arrays, which are a relatively new technology, are used to profile directly protein expression. They enable the researcher to profile hundreds of proteins and their post-translational modifications. Samples are not restricted to tumor cells and tissues but can be also biological fluids. In the last few years, researchers have developed several different antibody arrays. The common principle of this technology is based on the highly specific recognition between an antibody and its target antigen combined with miniaturization for high throughput screening. In this technology, antibodies are printed on a solid support, and the sample, usually containing a mixture of proteins, is applied on them. The interaction between the antibody and its specific antigen is then visualized by a choice of various detection methods. Identifying the proteins' changes may lead to the discovery of cancer-associated biomarkers that may assist in diagnosis, prognosis, patient monitoring and possibly for therapeutic purposes. Antibody arrays are a relatively new technology that enables one to perform multiplex high-throughput protein expression profiling. In this symposium, I will show the technical advances in slide-based antibody array and their application for biomarker identification within different cancers.