Antibody arrays, also known as antibody microarrays, are powerful tools in modern biomedical research, enabling the simultaneous detection of multiple proteins from small sample volumes. These arrays consist of a collection of capture antibodies immobilized on a solid surface, such as glass, plastic, or silicon chips, which interact with their target antigens to detect protein expression levels.
Applications of Antibody Arrays
Antibody arrays have numerous applications in both basic research and clinical diagnostics:
- Protein Profiling: Used to study protein expression levels in various conditions, such as disease states or drug treatments.
- Biomarker Discovery: Helps identify biomarkers for diseases like cancer and neurological disorders.
- Drug Development: Facilitates drug screening and understanding drug mechanisms.
- Disease Diagnosis and Monitoring: Enables comparison of protein expression between normal and diseased samples.
Advantages
- Multiplexing Capability: Allows simultaneous analysis of multiple proteins.
- Small Sample Volume: Requires minimal sample amounts.
- High Throughput: Enables rapid analysis of numerous samples.
Antibody arrays are versatile tools that provide a high-throughput method for protein detection and profiling, making them invaluable in biomedical research and diagnostics.