Fabrication of polyacrylamide micro-pillars and its application in microarray analysis

Abstract

To improve diffusive capabilities and target accessibility with a gel-based microarray, a novel a??pads within a pada?? approach was developed. Using a soft lithography technique, an array of a??wafflea??-like micro-pillars embedded on the surface of the glass slide substratum was fabricated. The micro-pillar based microarray showed more than a 3-fold increase in the effective surface area available for probe immobilization. As a result, a 5-fold increase was observed in the hybridization rate and intensity of the a??wafflea?? pad as compared to a conventional gel pad. The functionality of the a??wafflea?? pad was demonstrated by the accurate genotyping of two sets of SNPs (SNP_1236 and SNP_2677) based on the dissociation curve, dissociation temperature, Td and the difference of Td between the perfect match duplex with that of the mismatch (a??Td).