New protocol for oligonucleotide microarray fabrication using SU-8-coated glass microslides

Microarray technology has become an important tool for detection and analysis of nucleic acid targets. Immobilization of modified and unmodified oligonucleotides on epoxy-functionalized glass surfaces is often used in microarray fabrication. Here, we demonstrate a protocol that employs coating of SU-8 (glycidyl ether of bisphenol A) onto glass microslides to obtain high density of epoxy functions for efficient immobilization of aminoalkyl-, thiophosphoryl-, and phosphorylated oligonucleotides with uniform spot morphology. The resulting microarrays exhibited high immobilization (∼65%) and hybridization efficiency (30-36%) and were sufficiently stable over a range of temperature and pH conditions. The prominent feature of the protocol is that spots can be visualized distinctly at 0.05 μM probe (a 20-mer oligonucleotide) concentration. The constructed microarrays were subsequently used for detection of base mismatches and bacterial diseases (meningitis and typhoid).