MICROARRAY:
- Microarray technology has emerged as a method for high-throughput gene expression analysis.
- It speeds up the screening of thousands of DNA and protein samples simultaneously.
- A microarray is a pattern of ssDNA probes which are immobilized on a surface (called a chip or a slide).
- The probe sequences are designed and placed on an array in a regular pattern of spots.
- The chip or slide is usually made of glass or nylon and is manufactured using technologies developed for silicon computer chips.
- Each microarray chip is arranged as a checkerboard of 105 or 106 spots or features, each spot containing millions of copies of a unique DNA probe (often 25 nt long).
- Microarrays use hybridization method to detect a specific DNA or RNA in a sample.
APPLICATION:
- Microarray helps especially in the identification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), mutations, classification of tumors, identification of target genes of tumor suppressors, identification of cancer biomarkers, identification of genes associated with chemoresistance, and drug discovery.
- Microarrays have also been used in conjunction with chromatin immune precipitation to identify transcription factor binding locations.
- Microarray is used to compare diseased tissues/cells with healthy tissues/cells to find the characteristics of a particular disease. This helps in finding the genes responsible for that disease.