title: High-efficiency microarray printer using fused-silica capillary tube printing pins.
abstract: We describe a contact printing approach for microarrays that uses fused-silica capillary tubes with tapered tips for printing pins and a pressure/vacuum system to control pin loading, printing, and cleaning. The printing process is insensitive to variable environmental factors such as humidity, and the small diameter of the pins allows routine printing from 1536 well source plates. Pin load capacity, 0.2 microL in the current system, is adjustable by controlling pin length. More than 2000 spots can be printed per 0.2-microL pin load (<100 pl/spot), and densities of >12,000 spots/cm(2) are readily achievable. Solutions with a wide range of viscosities and chemical properties can be printed. The system can print tens of thousands of different solutions at high speed, due to the ability to use large numbers of pins simultaneously, and can produce a large number of replicate arrays since all of the solution picked up by the pins is available for deposition.
authors.affiliation: University of California San Francisco, Box 0808, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Steve M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Gregory E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Nordmeyer
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Uber
authors.forename: Earl W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Cornell
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Segraves
authors.forename: Randy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Donna G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Albertson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pinkel