Applications in high-content functional protein microarrays

• Human proteome microarrays have been developed.
• Unbiased, high-throughput platform for discovery-oriented biology.
• Useful for characterization of protein binding properties and post-translational modifications.
• Biomarker discovery for autoimmune disease and cancer.

Protein microarray technology provides a versatile platform for characterization of hundreds to thousands of proteins in a parallel and high-throughput manner. Over the last decade, applications of functional protein microarrays in particular have flourished in studying protein function at a systems level and have led to the construction of networks and pathways describing these functions. Relevant areas of research include the detection of various binding properties of proteins, the study of enzyme–substrate relationships, the analysis of host–microbe interactions, and profiling antibody specificity. In addition, discovery of novel biomarkers in autoimmune diseases and cancers is emerging as a major clinical application of functional protein microarrays. In this review, we will summarize the recent advances of functional protein microarrays in both basic and clinical applications.