Transport at the air/water interface is the reason for rings in protein microarrays.
Fabricating a protein microarray involves the deposition of nanoliter droplets of solutions on a solid surface. Instead of uniform spots, one often observes ring-like structures that add to the difficulty in quantification. We show that the accumulation of proteins at the air/water interface of the nanodroplet is the reason. Transformation to a uniform spot can be achieved via the addition of competitive surfactants or the control of surface reaction kinetics.
Deng
Yang
Y
Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Zhu
X-Y
XY
Kienlen
Taryn
T
Guo
Athena
A
D000388:Air; D000906:Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D006639:Histidine / Q000737:chemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D040081:Protein Array Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water
D000906:Antibodies; D011506:Proteins; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006639:Histidine