Biosynthetic approach for functional protein microarrays.

Protein microarrays have emerged as an indispensable research tool for providing information about protein functions and interactions through high-throughput screening. Traditional methods for immobilizing biomolecules onto solid surfaces have been based on covalent and noncovalent binding, entrapment in semipermeable membranes, microencapsulation, sol gel, and hydrogel methods. Each of these techniques has its own strengths but fails to combine the most important tenets of a functional protein microarray such as covalent attachment, native protein conformation, homogeneity of the protein monolayer, control over active site orientation, and retention of protein activity.