[The cell-free protein synthesis-based protein microarray technology]

The major bottle-neck in the way of constructing high density protein microarray is the availability and stability of proteins. The traditional methods of generating protein arrays require the in-vivo expression, purification and immobilization of hundreds or thousands of proteins. The cell-free protein array technology employs cell-free expression systems to produce proteins directly onto surface from co-distributed or pre-arrayed DNA or RNA, thus avoiding the laborious and often costly processes of protein preparation in the traditional approach. Here we provide an overview of recently developed novel technology in cell free based protein microarray and their applications in protein interaction analysis, in antibody specificity and vaccine screening, and in biomarker assay.