Measurements of the binding of a large protein using a substrate density-controlled DNA chip

The DNA chip that immobilizes DNA oligonucleotides on a solid plate surface is used for many diagnostic applications. For maximizing the detection sensitivity and accuracy, it is important to control the DNA density on a chip surface and establish a convenient method for optimizing the density. Here, the binding of DNA mismatch-binding protein MutS to the DNA substrate on the chip was investigated, which can be applied for high-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis in a genome. We prepared the DNA chips where the DNA substrate density was changed simply by using a mixed DNA solution. The binding of MutS was significantly influenced by the amount of DNA substrate on the chip as a consequence of steric crowding, and the moderate density that gave the distance between the DNA substrates greater than the size of the protein was appropriate to obtain accurate kinetic parameters. The substrate density-controlled DNA chip prepared using the mixed DNA solution has distinctive advantages for maximizing the detection capability and kinetic analysis of the binding of MutS and probably also other large proteins.