Microarraying Slides

Summary Points

• High-performance microarraying slides have a chemically activated surface to bind sopts of known, specific binding agents such as short gene sequences or proteins.
• The noise-rejection properties and binding capacity of the activated surface have substantial impact on analysis sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility.
• OptiChem® coatings provide exceptionally high performance as microarraying surfaces for DNA, proteins, and other ligands.
• OptiChem-coated microarraying slides for DNA and protein arrays are commercially available through Schott Nexterion®.
• OptiChem-coated microarraying slides are being used by commercial array developers as well as laboratories that make their own arrays.
• Accelr8 also develops and produces custom microarraying coatings for demanding applications.

High-Performance Microarraying

Accelr8's activated microarraying surface chemistry delivers exceptionally high performance and reproducibility. OptArray™ slides have OptiChem coatings optimized for immobilizing ligands such as proteins and oligonucleotides.

A long hydrophilic linking tether extends from the inert matrix to provide tethered ligand mobility in the solution phase. High contact angle helps keep spot size small and morphology uniform, even with piezo arrayers.

In addition to engineering the surface chemistry itself, our scientists have optimized the spotting and hybridization protocols to reduce the amount of additional protocol development needed to maximize performance.

The coating matrix sheds interfering biomolecules to an exceptional degree, allowing use with “real-world” samples and minimal sample cleanup. The activated surfaces perform best without blocking – application of blocking agents such as BSA actually increases background interference.

The three-dimensional matrix provides high binding probe capacity. Against the low background, the strong signal yields exceptionally high signal-to-noise performance.

OptArray slides require no unusual or proprietary reagents. Application protocols are simple, preparation times are short, and the very low non-specific binding enables shorter sample prep with less target loss.

Commercial Availability

Schott Nexterion® manufactures and distributes activated microarraying slides coated with Accelr8's OptiChem® coatings. Nexterion's “Slide H” features the highest performance for either DNA (oligo) or protein microarraying. Please visit their Web site for technical and ordering information (click logo at right).