Peptide Arrays: Development and Application.

Abstract

This review identifies the important approaches to peptide arrays and discusses the various technical options that must be considered. Of the five important approaches that are now practiced and commercially available, it is clear that no single approach offers advantages for all applications. Instead, the variations of peptide arrays enable the study of a wide range of applications. For example, the approaches based on in situ synthesis can prepare the highest density arrays and do so at relatively low reagent costs (though with varying expense in the synthesis hardware). The approaches that prepare arrays by immobilizing presynthesized peptides have the primary benefits of compatibility with a broader range of surface chemistries (that may not be sufficiently stable toward the conditions for in situ synthesis). The use of self-assembled monolayers, for example, brings the important benefits of chemistries that prevent the nonspecific adsorption of protein, give excellent control over the densities of peptides in the array, and are uniquely compatible with the use of SAMDI mass spectrometry to perform a broad range of label-free assays.