Dr. Frank Stahl, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany

Microarrays: some new methods and applications

Biological research requires fast genome, proteome and transcriptome analysis technologies. Here, microarray technologies are state of the art. Certainly microarray technology isn’t limited to transcriptome analysis and is more and more complemented by protein, aptamer, tissue, living cell and organ on a chip applications.

Since protein microarrays are limited in many experimental set-ups (e. g. multiplexing, detection of toxic targets or small molecules including organic compounds, etc.), aptamer microarrays provide alternative possibilities to circumvent these limitations. Aptamers are able to detect small non-immunogenic molecules without using macromolecules as carrier. They show a higher structural stability and can be regenerated without affecting activity. In comparison to antibodies, aptamers are able to bind their target under non-physiological conditions. Furthermore, an aptamer-based gas analysis could enable a non-invasive monitoring of metabolic processes during cell cultivations or of exhaled breath in medical diagnostics.

The targeted delivery of bioactive molecules to cells is of utmost importance in biotechnological and medical research as well as in tissue engineering and therapeutics. Different multi-functional nanoparticles for cellular imaging and manipulation were conjugated to aptamers specifically binding to cell surface proteins. For example, quantum dots (QDs) will be applied as a carrier in combination with aptamers as targeting ligands. Living cell microarrays are used for the delivery studies.

In order to optimise cell culture conditions, and analyse the physiological capacity of cultured cells or engineered tissue it will be necessary to use traditional molecular and cell biological methods in combination with microarray technology. Living cell microarrays allow cell assays to be performed on a high throughput platform. Therefore mammalian cell culture (stem cells, primary cells and cell lines) was printed with a contact-free nanoplotter on different functionalized slides. The surfaces were tested for toxicity and optimized. Fluorescent-labelled aptamers and antibodies were implemented as detection molecules by hybridization on the self produced cell arrays.

The lecture is part of the PhD School Nanoscience meets Hepatology, but the lecture is open to all interested.

Host: Associate Professor Brigitte Städler, iNANO & Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University