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Exploiting the benefits of miniaturization for the enhancement of DNA microarrays
Author(s) -
Vanderhoeven Johan,
Pappaert Kris,
Dutta Binita,
Vanhummelen Paul,
Baron Gino V.,
Desmet Gert
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.200406116
Subject(s) - miniaturization , dna microarray , biological system , nanotechnology , dna , analytical chemistry (journal) , computer science , materials science , chemistry , biology , chromatography , genetics , gene , gene expression
The present study demonstrates that the best way to enhance DNA microarray assays, both in terms of analysis speed and in final spot intensity, is to dissolve the available molar amount of sample in the smallest possible buffer volume and to subsequently convect this solution continuously across the surface of the array. The presently proposed shear‐driven flow system is pre‐eminently suited for this task, as it allows to induce strongly enhanced lateral transport rates, independently of the degree of miniaturization of the hybridization chamber. This transport enhancement method, however, only increases the hybridization rate and not the final spot intensity, as neither can any of the other transport enhancement methods already proposed in literature. A series of experiments with synthetic single‐stranded (ssDNA) samples and an accompanying mass balance analysis are presented to demonstrate these points.