Progress in antibody arrays

Arrays of antibodies and of other types of ligand-binding molecule (e.g. protein scaffolds or aptamers) provide a means for rapid detection of proteins and other analytes in multiple samples and ultimately for screening the human proteome in health and disease. The chief reasons for using an array-based approach to diagnostics and proteomics relate to the advantages associated with parallelisation, miniaturisation and automation. The current generation of antibody microarrays promises to perform well as diagnostic tools and for limited protein profiling, using relatively small numbers of available antibodies. Sensitivity, specificity and signal-to-noise ratios in the multiplex format are major issues and will become more critical as the complexity of arrays is increased. This review describes progress in solving problems associated with the construction of antibody arrays.