Fabrication of multicomponent protein microarrays with microfluidic devices of poly(dimethylsiloxane)

Abstract

Recently, the multi-screening of target materials has been made possible by the development of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging method. To adapt this method to biochemical analysis, the multi-patterning technology of protein microarrays is required. Among the different methods of fabricating protein microarrays, the microfluidic platform was selected due to its various advantages over other techniques. Microfluidic devices were designed and fabricated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by the replica molding method. These devices were designed to operate using only capillary force, without the need for additional flow control equipment. With these devices, multiple protein-patterned sensor surfaces were made, to support the two-dimensional detection of various protein-protein interactions with SPR. The fabrication technique of protein microarrays can be applied not only to SPR imaging, but also to other biochemical analyses.